{"id":{"repo_id":"passau-thes","oai_identifier":"oai:kobv.de-opus4-uni-passau:2004"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/passau-thes/oai:kobv.de-opus4-uni-passau:2004","repository":{"repo_id":"passau-thes","name":"Universität Passau","base_url":"https://opus4.kobv.de/opus4-uni-passau/oai"},"display":{"title":"Digital Platforms and Mobile Technologies for Development: Essays on Firm Formalization, Financial Inclusion, and Agricultural Resilience in Sub-Saharan Africa","abstract":"Siehe https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-20704 für um Abbildung A2.4 ergänzte Fassung. See https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-20704 for version including Figure A2.4. Mobile technologies and digital platforms have expanded rapidly across sub-Saharan Africa, creating opportunities to strengthen state capacity, broaden financial inclusion, and build agricultural resilience. This dissertation examines their development impacts across three settings. Chapter 1 combines novel administrative tax records with high resolution data on mobile network rollout in Uganda to estimate the effects of mobile internet access on firm tax behavior and public revenue. Exploiting plausibly exogenous rollout timing, we find that improved access increases firm formalization and expands the tax base, strengthening revenue collection. Chapter 2 presents a randomized controlled trial in Niger—the world’s most financially excluded country—to identify barriers to adoption of a mobile money platform. Information provision raises awareness but not use, consistent with information being necessary but insufficient for diffusion. By contrast, a modest financial incentive significantly increases both adoption and usage. Chapter 3 uses a household panel collected before and after a severe drought in northern Ghana and exploits variation in rainfall in a differences-in-differences framework to estimate effects on production, income sources and adaptation plans. We find that increasing drought severity lowers soybean yields and revenues and decreases reliance on own-business income and remittances, reflecting broader livelihood impacts. Farmers who use mobile phones to access agricultural information make different input choices and adaptation plans. Taken together, these findings highlight the promise of mobile technologies and digital platforms for development. Their effectiveness, however, depends on complementary infrastructure and local capacity, underscoring the need for scalable, context-specific strategies to harness these tools for inclusive growth and resilience.","abstract_html":"Siehe https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-20704 für um Abbildung A2.4 ergänzte Fassung. See https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-20704 for version including Figure A2.4. Mobile technologies and digital platforms have expanded rapidly across sub-Saharan Africa, creating opportunities to strengthen state capacity, broaden financial inclusion, and build agricultural resilience. This dissertation examines their development impacts across three settings. Chapter 1 combines novel administrative tax records with high resolution data on mobile network rollout in Uganda to estimate the effects of mobile internet access on firm tax behavior and public revenue. Exploiting plausibly exogenous rollout timing, we find that improved access increases firm formalization and expands the tax base, strengthening revenue collection. Chapter 2 presents a randomized controlled trial in Niger—the world’s most financially excluded country—to identify barriers to adoption of a mobile money platform. Information provision raises awareness but not use, consistent with information being necessary but insufficient for diffusion. By contrast, a modest financial incentive significantly increases both adoption and usage. Chapter 3 uses a household panel collected before and after a severe drought in northern Ghana and exploits variation in rainfall in a differences-in-differences framework to estimate effects on production, income sources and adaptation plans. We find that increasing drought severity lowers soybean yields and revenues and decreases reliance on own-business income and remittances, reflecting broader livelihood impacts. Farmers who use mobile phones to access agricultural information make different input choices and adaptation plans. Taken together, these findings highlight the promise of mobile technologies and digital platforms for development. Their effectiveness, however, depends on complementary infrastructure and local capacity, underscoring the need for scalable, context-specific strategies to harness these tools for inclusive growth and resilience.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Wirth, Olivia"],"institution":"Universität Passau","degree_name":null,"degree_level":"thesis.doctoral","degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Grimm, Michael","Bauernschuster, Stefan"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2025,"date_issued":"2025-12-15","date_published":"2025-12-15","updated_at":"2026-07-24T03:45:12Z","subjects":["Digitalisierung","Landwirtschaft","Afrika","Finanzielle Inklusion","Klimaanpassung","Steuercompliance"],"languages":[],"rights":["Standardbedingung laut Einverständniserklärung"],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://opus4.kobv.de/opus4-uni-passau/frontdoor/index/index/docId/2004","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"source_url"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Grimm, Michael","Bauernschuster, Stefan"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Wirth, Olivia"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:publisher","label":"Institution","values":["Universität Passau"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["doctoralThesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["thesis.doctoral"]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["Universität Passau"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Digitalisierung","Landwirtschaft","Afrika","Finanzielle Inklusion","Klimaanpassung","Steuercompliance"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["Standardbedingung laut Einverständniserklärung"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Siehe https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-20704 für um Abbildung A2.4 ergänzte Fassung. See https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-20704 for version including Figure A2.4. Mobile technologies and digital platforms have expanded rapidly across sub-Saharan Africa, creating opportunities to strengthen state capacity, broaden financial inclusion, and build agricultural resilience. This dissertation examines their development impacts across three settings. Chapter 1 combines novel administrative tax records with high resolution data on mobile network rollout in Uganda to estimate the effects of mobile internet access on firm tax behavior and public revenue. Exploiting plausibly exogenous rollout timing, we find that improved access increases firm formalization and expands the tax base, strengthening revenue collection. Chapter 2 presents a randomized controlled trial in Niger—the world’s most financially excluded country—to identify barriers to adoption of a mobile money platform. Information provision raises awareness but not use, consistent with information being necessary but insufficient for diffusion. By contrast, a modest financial incentive significantly increases both adoption and usage. Chapter 3 uses a household panel collected before and after a severe drought in northern Ghana and exploits variation in rainfall in a differences-in-differences framework to estimate effects on production, income sources and adaptation plans. We find that increasing drought severity lowers soybean yields and revenues and decreases reliance on own-business income and remittances, reflecting broader livelihood impacts. Farmers who use mobile phones to access agricultural information make different input choices and adaptation plans. Taken together, these findings highlight the promise of mobile technologies and digital platforms for development. Their effectiveness, however, depends on complementary infrastructure and local capacity, underscoring the need for scalable, context-specific strategies to harness these tools for inclusive growth and resilience."]},{"key":"dc:format.medium","label":"Dc Format Medium","values":["application/pdf"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Digital Platforms and Mobile Technologies for Development: Essays on Firm Formalization, Financial Inclusion, and Agricultural Resilience in Sub-Saharan Africa"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Grimm, Michael","Bauernschuster, Stefan"],"dc:creator":["Wirth, Olivia"],"dc:description.abstract":["Siehe https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-20704 für um Abbildung A2.4 ergänzte Fassung. See https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-20704 for version including Figure A2.4. Mobile technologies and digital platforms have expanded rapidly across sub-Saharan Africa, creating opportunities to strengthen state capacity, broaden financial inclusion, and build agricultural resilience. This dissertation examines their development impacts across three settings. Chapter 1 combines novel administrative tax records with high resolution data on mobile network rollout in Uganda to estimate the effects of mobile internet access on firm tax behavior and public revenue. Exploiting plausibly exogenous rollout timing, we find that improved access increases firm formalization and expands the tax base, strengthening revenue collection. Chapter 2 presents a randomized controlled trial in Niger—the world’s most financially excluded country—to identify barriers to adoption of a mobile money platform. Information provision raises awareness but not use, consistent with information being necessary but insufficient for diffusion. By contrast, a modest financial incentive significantly increases both adoption and usage. Chapter 3 uses a household panel collected before and after a severe drought in northern Ghana and exploits variation in rainfall in a differences-in-differences framework to estimate effects on production, income sources and adaptation plans. We find that increasing drought severity lowers soybean yields and revenues and decreases reliance on own-business income and remittances, reflecting broader livelihood impacts. Farmers who use mobile phones to access agricultural information make different input choices and adaptation plans. Taken together, these findings highlight the promise of mobile technologies and digital platforms for development. Their effectiveness, however, depends on complementary infrastructure and local capacity, underscoring the need for scalable, context-specific strategies to harness these tools for inclusive growth and resilience."],"dc:format.medium":["application/pdf"],"dc:publisher":["Universität Passau"],"dc:rights":["Standardbedingung laut Einverständniserklärung"],"dc:subject":["Digitalisierung","Landwirtschaft","Afrika","Finanzielle Inklusion","Klimaanpassung","Steuercompliance"],"dc:title":["Digital Platforms and Mobile Technologies for Development: Essays on Firm Formalization, Financial Inclusion, and Agricultural Resilience in Sub-Saharan Africa"],"dc:type":["doctoralThesis"],"thesis:degree_level":["thesis.doctoral"],"thesis:institution_name":["Universität Passau"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T03:45:12Z"}