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BIGD has once again made significant strides in advancing women’s economic empowerment through two Requests for Proposals (RFPs) in 2024. This year marked the first call for WEE-Connect, which along with WEE-DiFine, aims to build a robust research pipeline in the Global South. These initiatives have resulted in the selection of high-impact studies that will deepen our understanding of how digital connectivity and financial services empower women economically.

WEE-Connect RFP 1: A Resounding Start with Broad Appeal

In its inaugural round, WEE-Connect received an impressive 63 submissions from 13 countries across South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. Bangladesh led the way with 16 submissions, followed by Nigeria (12 submissions) and India (11 submissions). Additionally, the breadth of scope in these submissions was impressive, ranging from a quasi-experimental evaluation of a virtual education platform in Afghanistan, to a qualitative investigation of the ways in which digital connectivity is conceptualized by minoritized Bangladeshi women. This diverse geographic and thematic representation underscores the importance of examining how digital tools impact women across contexts. 

WEE-Connect issued five conditional awards, valued at approximately $700,000. Interestingly, all funded studies are based in South Asia, reflecting the region’s alignment with the Initiative’s priorities and commitment to rigorous research. All funded teams include a Principal Investigator (PI) from the study’s country of focus, ensuring that the research benefits from local expertise. The funded studies address a variety of priority questions outlined in WEE-Connect’s white paper, ensuring that the Initiative is well-positioned to deepen understanding regarding the potential for digital connectivity to empower women economically.

WEE-Connect Funded Studies

Women at the Wheel: A Digital Pathway to Women’s Economic Participation in Transport

• Associated Investigators: Farah Said (Lahore University of Management Sciences), Malik Kashif (Lahore University of Management Sciences), Muhammad Meki (University of Oxford), and Simon Quinn (Imperial College London)
• Country: Pakistan
• Partners: Careem, Rural Community Development Programme (RCDP), National Rural Support Programme, Akhuwat, and Punjab Police 
• Description: Through a randomized controlled trial (RCT), this study will measure the impact of offering female MFI clients financing to purchase an auto rickshaw on their labor force participation via the gig economy. 

Using Text Messages to Provide Garment Workers Access to Job Information

• Associated Investigators: Rachel Heath (University of Washington), Md. Shakil Ahmed (BRAC Institute for Governance and Development), and Laura Boudreau (Columbia Business School)
• Country: Bangladesh
• Partners: BRAC Institute for Governance and Development and Centre for Entrepreneurial Development
• Description: This cluster RCT explores whether providing information, via in person visits, text messages, and phone calls, to garment workers regarding job characteristics improves their labor market outcomes. 

Impact Evaluation of Digital Green’s VISTAAR chatbot for AI-mediated agricultural extension

• Associated Investigators: William Thompson (IDinsight), Daniel Stein (IDinsight), Abhishek Sharma (IDinsight), Tetyana Zelenska (Digital Green), and Namita Singh (Digital Green)
• Country: India
• Partners: ID Insight India Pvt Limited and Digital Green Trust
• Description: Using an RCT, this study will measure the gender-disaggregated impacts of chatbot-mediated agricultural advice on farmers’ adoption of recommended practices, as well as on agricultural yields and income. 

Bridging the Gendered Digital Connectivity Divide to Empower Women Elected Representatives and Their Constituents

• Associated Investigators: Soledad Artiz Prillaman (Stanford University), Deepak Singhania (IIT Gandhinagar), and Alba Huidobro (Stanford University)
• Country: India
• Partner: Transform Rural India and Inclusion Economics India Center at IFMR
• Description: This qualitative study builds upon an ongoing pilot to elucidate how digital connectivity interacts with other women’s empowerment interventions. Ultimately the study will explore how digital connectivity can foster women’s political, social, and economic empowerment. 

Mothers’ connectivity gain, agency, and behavioral changes from their involvement in children’s distance learning program

• Associated Investigators: Hashibul Hassan (Jagannath University), Asad Islam (Monash University), and Munshi Sulaiman (BRAC Institute for Governance and Development)
• Country: Bangladesh
• Partners: Centre for Climate, Society and Environment, Jagannath University, and Global Development & Research Initiative Foundation
• Description: Using a measurement experiment, this study builds upon an existing cluster RCT to examine how mothers’ involvement in their children’s distance learning impacts the women’s digital engagement, agency, and behavior. 

WEE-DiFine RFP 4: Continuing to Deepen Impact

WEE-DiFine, which has concluded its fourth RFP, continues to advance research that examines the causal links between digital financial services and women’s economic empowerment. RFP 4 received 52 submissions from a wide geographical range, reflecting the Initiative’s global appeal. However, the highest concentration of proposals were submitted from Sub-Saharan Africa, highlighting the region’s interest in the role of digital financial services to address persistent gender inequities. 

WEE-DiFine issued six new conditional awards, valued at approximately $800,000. Four of these six research teams include a PI from the country of focus. The selected projects address a variety of underexplored causal mechanisms, including financial privacy between couples and implicit household dynamics underpinning women’s bargaining power. These new studies are therefore expected to advance understanding of how digital financial services can improve women’s economic empowerment across diverse contexts.

WEE-DiFine Funded Studies

Making it Easier to Pay for School: The Impact of Digitization of Tuition Payments on Student Performance in Benin

• Associated Investigators: Mahounan Yedomiffi (Dartmouth College), Leora Klapper (World Bank), and Owen Ozier (Williams College)
• Country: Benin
• Partners: MTN, Ministry of Secondary Education, and Kemt Center for Development
• Description: This extension study will assess whether digitized tuition payments increase on-time and in-full payments, particularly for girls. The study will also measure impacts on students’ educational outcomes, by gender. 

Decoding Digital Financial Services-enabled financial privacy

• Associated Investigators: Prachi Jain (Loyola Marymount University) and Anisha Singh (London School of Economics)
• Country: Kenya
• Partner: Busara Center for Behavioral Economics 
• Description: Using a lab-in-the-field experiment, this study will assess the role of financial privacy for couples in Nairobi. Specifically, the study will examine the household dynamics that shape financial privacy preferences and the role of women’s financial privacy on household dynamics.

The household dynamic of digital finance and female empowerment

• Associated Investigators: Siwan Anderson (University of British Columbia), Asad Islam (monash University), and Farzana Afridi (Indian Statistical Institute (Delhi)
• Country: Bangladesh
• Partners: Unnayan and Global Development & Research Initiative
• Description: This RCT will measure the impact of digital versus cash loans, in combination with support groups focused on family dynamics, on rural women’s economic empowerment. Additionally, the study will examine impacts on family relationships. 

Measuring Impact of Group Loans and Savings Group Digital Ledgers in Savings Groups on Women’s Economic Empowerment

• Associated Investigators: Elliot Collins (Innovations for Poverty Action), William Blackmon (Innovations for Poverty Action), Jessica Goldberg (University of Maryland), Emmanuel Tumusiime (World Vision USA), and Alfredo Burlando (University of Oregon)
• Country: Malawi and Uganda
• Partners: World Vision, Inc., Innovations for Poverty Action Malawi, and Innovations for Poverty Action Uganda
• Description: Using an RCT, this study measures the impact of digital group loans, in conjunction with an app for savings group ledger tracking, on women’s economic empowerment. Additionally, this study will collect qualitative data to elucidate causal mechanisms underpinning any impacts. 

Mobile money and women’s empowerment: a lab-in-the-field experiment

• Associated Investigators: Emma Riley (University of Michigan) and Suvekshya Gautam (University of Washington)
• Country: Tanzania
• Partners: BRAC Tz Finance Limited and Innovations for Poverty Action
• Description: This measurement study uses a lab-in-the-field experiment to isolate the role of privacy as a potential causal mechanism through which DFS impacts WEE. Additionally, the study examines gendered preferences regarding the use of mobile money and increased financial autonomy. 

Usage of mobile financial services and female overseas labor market participation

• Associated Investigators: Dina Tasneem (American University of Sharjah) and Khusrav Gaibulloev (American University of Sharjah) 
• Country: Bangladesh
• Partner: Development Research Initiative 
• Description: This exploratory pilot examines the role of mobile financial services (MFS) on overseas labor force participation for low-skilled migrant workers, as well as barriers and opportunities for MFS adoption, by gender. 

Looking Ahead: Building on a Strong Foundation

As WEE-Connect embarks on its journey and WEE-DiFine continues to refine its research portfolio, these initiatives underscore the importance of targeted, high-impact studies in shaping policies and interventions that empower women economically. With these new awards, both initiatives are poised to contribute valuable insights that will drive meaningful change.

Stay tuned for full profiles on each of these funded studies, as well as additional funding opportunities. For more information about WEE-DiFine, please visit this page, and for details on WEE-Connect, check out this page.