WEE-DiFine’s third RFP solicited proposals for both small and large grants, and teams were permitted to apply to multiple funding categories. Seven teams applied to more than one category. The largest share of proposals was for large-scale Greenfield studies (26%) followed by pilot studies and qualitative studies as formative or standalone research (both at 21%), extension studies (14%), measurement experiments (12%), and qualitative studies as extensions to existing studies (5%).
Through RFP #3, the Initiative funded two extension studies, two pilots, one measurement experiment, and one qualitative study as formative or standalone research. The Initiative did not fund any Greenfield evaluations this round. Initiative Director Kym Cole explained, “WEE-DiFine’s advisory board decided to not proceed with any Greenfield proposals submitted this round. The board prioritizes projects that best advance the initiative’s research agenda, with an eye for methodological rigour, scalability, and value for money.”
Most submissions received were for Bangladesh (18), followed by India (10), Kenya (8), Nigeria (6), and Ghana (5). To date, WEE-DiFine has funded four studies in Bangladesh, three each in India and Kenya, two each in Uganda and Tanzania, and one each in Burkina Faso, Ghana, Malawi, and Nigeria.
When asked what we can expect from WEE-DiFine’s next RFP, Kym stated, “Moving forward, the WEE-DiFine team looks forward to commissioning projects that shore up thematic gaps in our portfolio. We anticipate launching a targeted RFP to this effect in 2023.”
For more information about the Initiative, please visit BIGD’s webpage.
List funded studies:
- Title: Engaging women in mobile money markets: Neighboring business surveys
Associated Investigators: Jessica Goldberg (University of Maryland), Xavier Giné (World Bank Group), Lore Vandewalle (Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies), Anusuya Sivaram (University of Maryland), Carlotta Nani (Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies of Geneva)
Country and Partner: Bangladesh; bKash
Description: Through a randomized controlled trial (RCT), this study will evaluate the effect of hiring women as mobile money agents on mobile money customers, businesses, and female labourers. The goal of the study is to identify how a woman’s experience – both as an economic consumer and agent– might alter her community’s attitudes toward the participation of women in the formal labour force.
- Title: Adapting and validating WEE indicators in an experimental study of savings
Associated Investigators: Joeri Smits (Center for International Development, Evidence for Policy Design, Harvard University) and Anahit Tevosyan (FINCA International)
Country and Partner: Uganda; FINCA Uganda
Description: This measurement study builds on an ongoing RCT that examines the effects of goal-based digital savings accounts on well-being and savings behaviour. The primary goal of the study is to develop and test a set of WEE indicators that will be validated using machine learning algorithms.
- Title: (Digital) cash transfers, privacy, and women’s economic empowerment: Experimental evidence from Uganda
Associated Investigators: Selim Gulesci (Trinity College Dublin), Munshi Sulaiman (BRAC Institute of Governance and Development), Giulia Greco (London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine), and Pallavi Prabhakar (Norwegian School of Economics)
Country and Partner: Uganda; BRAC Uganda
Description: Using a cluster randomized control trial (CRCT) with a sample size of 2,000 women, this study will measure the differential impact of cash versus mobile money transfer programs on WEE outcomes and intimate partner violence. The goal is to examine whether payments through DFS provide women with more privacy and control than cash transfers.
- Title: Leveraging digital technology to make crop insurance more accessible to women: The effects of flexible payment schedules on women’s uptake and bargaining power
Associated Investigators: Francesco Cecchi (Wageningen University), Samyuktha Kannan (Wageningen University), and Joseph Chege (Acre Africa)
Country and Partner: Kenya; Acre Africa
Description: This pilot study will evaluate how using DFS to distribute crop insurance to farmers in Kenya might improve women’s interest in and uptake of this type of insurance. The primary goal is to collect data to understand if the intervention of flexible payout disbursements and premium payments proves to be effective and sustainable, and thus can be scaled across East Africa.
- Title: Repaying loans with mobile money: Impacts on female microfinance clients in Tanzania
Associated Investigators: Rachel Heath (University of Washington) and Emma Riley (University of Washington)
Country and Partner: Tanzania; BRAC Tanzania
Description: Using a pilot RCT with a sample size of 500 female microfinance clients, this study will measure the impact of using mobile money to pay off microfinance loans on women’s economic empowerment. The researchers hope to contribute to the knowledge base on the dynamics of microfinance groups and assess the level of social cohesion and peer support by meeting frequency.
- Title: Empowering women domestic workers: Qualitative investigation on the impact of DFS on women’s economic empowerment in Nigeria
Associated Investigators: Okechukwu Amah (Lagos Business School, Pan Atlantic University & Institute for Work and Family Integration), Victor Kolo (Institute for Work and Family Integration), and Ruqayyah Baderinwa (Christopher Kolade Centre for Research in Leadership and Ethics, Lagos Business School, Pan-Atlantic University)
Country and Partner: Nigeria; Institute for Work and Family Integration
Description: Using qualitative methods, this study will unpack how access to DFS through mobile phones might improve women’s economic empowerment and access to digital non-financial services for female domestic workers in South-West Nigeria. Results aim to influence the development of DFS practices and programs for vulnerable female workers in low-income communities and populations.
