Over 4 billion people live in cities today, and this rapid urbanization is only expected to grow in the future. For urban residents who leave their rural hometowns seeking better opportunities, money transfers are an important tool to support struggling families back home. A recent experiment by researchers Jean N. Lee, Jonathan Morduch, Saravana Ravindran, Abu Shonchoy, and Hassan Zaman studied the interplay between this rural-to-urban migration in Bangladesh, and the introduction of mobile banking to modernize remittances. They found that with financial technology, urban-to-rural remittances increased by 26%, which also boosted consumption for rural family members. A myriad of benefits come with this, as Tyler Smith of the American Economic Association noted about this study, “...the speed with which money could now travel helped pay for time-sensitive purchases, such as medication and food, especially during the lean season in Bangladesh.”
Read more of AEA’s coverage here.
Editor's Note:
If you were hoping that the faiV would be a pleasant distraction from the overwhelming flow of AI-related content, sorry. For the record, the faiV had “ai” built in before Anthropic existed. And a housekeeping note: we’ve finally jumped ship from Mailchimp to NYU’s mailing platform—I guess if you’re reading this it’s been a seamless transition and if you’re not, well, you’re not. Feedback on the faiV’s content and format and delivery methods is always welcome, just drop me an email.
- Tim Ogden