Digital Platforms and Mobile Technologies for Development: Essays on Firm Formalization, Financial Inclusion, and Agricultural Resilience in Sub-Saharan Africa

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.

Level thesis:degree_level

thesis.doctoral

Grantor dc:publisher

Universität Passau

Year

2025

Author dc:creator

• Wirth, Olivia

Contributors dc:contributor

• Grimm, Michael
• Bauernschuster, Stefan

• Digitalisierung
• Landwirtschaft
• Afrika
• Finanzielle Inklusion
• Klimaanpassung
• Steuercompliance

Statement dc:rights

• Standardbedingung laut Einverständniserklärung

Repository record source_url

https://opus4.kobv.de/opus4-uni-passau/frontdoor/index/index/docId/2004

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:kobv.de-opus4-uni-passau:2004