Conditional and unconditional cash transfers often help improve development outcomes, yet their costs to program recipients and implementing agencies are rarely discussed. Mobile money transfer systems in many developing countries now offer more cost-effective implementation of cash transfer...

While cash transfers will tautologically increase contemporaneous consumption, it is unclear whether these gains will persist, especially in rural agricultural settings with limited productive investment opportunities. Using bi-monthly survey data from recipients of a large, unconditional cash...

"A must read for any development policy maker or practitioner especially if they are thinking about how and where digital technologies can add value and improve the livelihoods of the poor…Most important of all…(they) provide a framework to think about when and how digital is the solution."...

Cell phones are quickly transforming markets in low-income countries. The effect is particularly dramatic in rural areas of sub-Saharan Africa, where cell phones often represent the first telecommunications infrastructure. Niger had approximately 2 landlines for every 1,000 people when mobile...

Despite the increased use of conditional and unconditional cash-transfer programs worldwide, a majority of social protection programs in both developed and developing countries use in-kind transfers and vouchers. This paper reports the results of a randomized evaluation of an unconditional cash...