Although RFP #2 only solicited proposals for small grants, teams could apply in more than one category, and eight teams applied to more than one category. The largest share of proposals were for pilot studies (33%) followed by measurement studies and qualitative studies as formative or standalone research (both at 23%), and finally qualitative studies as extensions to existing studies (21%). Through RFP #2, the Initiative funded four pilots and two qualitative studies. To date, the Initiative has not funded any measurement studies.
To date, WEE-DiFine has funded three studies each in India and Bangladesh, two in Kenya, and one each in Burkina Faso, Ghana, Malawi, and Tanzania.
List of funded studies:
Title: An experimental analysis of the impact of smartphones and household property rights on the uptake of DFS
Associated Investigators: Philip Roessler (William & Mary), Tanu Kumar (William & Mary), Peter Carroll, (University of Michigan), Boniface Dulani (Institute of Public Opinion and Research) Daniel Nielson (University of Texas-Austin)
Country and Partner: Malawi; Institute of Public Opinion and Research (IPOR); Girls Empowerment Network (GENET)
Description: Access to mobile devices is a prerequisite for DFS usage which may have positive effects on WEE. This pilot study seeks to explore how women’s ownership of smartphones can increase their use of DFS, household economic well-being, and WEE. Participants will be recruited in the Blantyre district of Malawi and will be assigned to one of four groups: technical efficacy treatment, property rights treatment, cash placebo, or control. This research could potentially increase our understanding of the impact of shifting husbands’ beliefs on property rights for women with secondary impacts on DFS usage and phone uptake.
Title: Understanding how digitally addressing liquidity constraints through salary advances impacts women’s bargaining power and economic empowerment
Associated Investigators: Achyuta Adhvaryu (University of Michigan), Anant Nyshadham (University of Michigan), Smit Gade (Good Business Lab), Aditya Jagati (Busara Centre for Behavioural Economics), Pooja Gupta (Busara Centre for Behavioural Economics)
Country and Partner: India; Shahi Exports
Description: Access to financial resources can improve women’s ability to respond to shocks, such as unexpected expenses due to illness. Unfortunately, women have lower access to financial resources. Working with garment factories in Karnataka, India, this pilot study will explore an innovative salary advance intervention which allows women to access funds between pay-cycles. The research team will explore the impact of the intervention on outcomes including self-efficacy, bargaining power, and investments in household expenditures such as healthcare and education.
Title: Encouraging cleaner cooking: Digital finance and LPG use in Ghana
Associated Investigators: Kelsey Jack (UC Santa Barbara), Kwaku Poku Asante (Kintampo Health Research Center), Darby Jack (Columbia University), Dean Karlan (Northwestern University), Christopher Urdy (Northwestern University)
Country and Partner: Ghana; Innovations for Poverty Action & Kintampo Health Research Centre
Description: Traditional cooking fuels, like wood, coal, and kerosene, can have harmful effects on individuals and the environment. Liquid petroleum gas (LPG) offers a cleaner and safer alternative to traditional cooking fuels, but there are barriers to adoption and sustained use, including women’s intrahousehold bargaining power. This study will test two interventions designed to increase the adoption and continued use of LPG through access to digital financial services.
Title: Empowering Poor Urban Women in Bangladesh through Digital Financial Services: Does Wage Payment via Mobile Money translate into Economic Empowerment?
Associated Investigators: Zaki Wahhaj (University of Kent), Maliha Rahanaz (University of Kent & BRAC University)
Country and Partner: Bangladesh; HelloTask
Description: HelloTask, in Dhaka, Bangladesh, connects domestic workers with short-term opportunities. Working with HelloTaskers, the research team will randomly assign participants to one of two treatment arms or a control group. Both treatment arms will be offered digital financial services (DFS) training and a bKash (mobile money) account. The only variation between the first and second treatment arms is that the second treatment arm will receive their HelloTask payments via cash, as opposed to mobile money. Finally, the control group will not receive DFS training or support and will receive payment via cash. This research has the potential to reveal the impacts of mobile money payments and DFS training on various outcomes including household decision making and savings.
Title: Digital finance services, women’s economic empowerment, and maternal mental well-being: An ethnographic study in rural Kenya
Associated Investigators: Estelle Sidze (African Population and Health Research Centre), Caroline Wainaina (African Population and Health Research Centre; Utrecht University), Amanuel Abajobir (African Population and Health Research Centre), Emmy Igonya (African Population and Health Research Centre), Wendy Janssen (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam; Amsterdam Institute for Global Health and Development)
Country and Partner: Kenya; African Population and Health Research Centre
Description: Building on an ongoing cluster RCT in Kakamega, Kenya, this study seeks to better understand the role of digital financial services (DFS) on healthcare practices among vulnerable, rural women. The intervention currently being studied involves an insurance scheme delivered through mobile phones. Taking an in-depth qualitative approach, the research team will expand on the RCT and utilize ethnographic methods including participant observation. This research will complement the quantitative findings and has the potential to explore how access to DFS influence healthcare use, women’s economic empowerment, and maternal well-being.
Title: Digital financial services, transaction costs and women’s empowerment: A qualitative analysis
Associated Investigators: Naila Kabeer (London School of Economics and Political Science), Lopita Huq (BRAC Institute of Governance and Development, BRAC University)
Country and Partner: Bangladesh; Shakti Foundation
Description: By reducing transaction costs, DFS offer the potential to close the persistent gender gap between those who have access to finance and those who do not. This qualitative study is an extension of a WEE-DiFine funded RCT that explores the perceived benefits of reduced direct versus indirect transaction costs associated with DFS. Using semi-structured interviews, the research team will unpack the causal processes not fully understood through the RCT. The goal is to understand women’s experiences from opening a mobile account to usage to the impacts on their lives.
1 More on the first RFP can be found in a previously published blog post.
Jenna Grzeslo is Senior Program Manager, Research & Learning, at BRAC USA
