Household welfare in the digital age: Assessing the effect of mobile money on household consumption volatility in developing countries

Based on a sample of 76 developing countries over 1990-2019, we assess the effect of adopting mobile money on consumption volatility using entropy balancing. We reveal that countries with mobile money exhibit lower consumption volatility. After checking the robustness of this result, we show that the key drivers of mobile money's stabilizing effect are financial inclusion and migrant remittances. Heterogeneity tests conducted indicate the sensitivity of the result to time and type of mobile money and to some structural factors, including trade openness, inflation, rural population, the rule of law, and level of development. (c) 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.