2026-09-18T18:13:00Z https://opus4.kobv.de/opus4-uni-passau/oai

oai:kobv.de-opus4-uni-passau:2070 2026-04-17 bibliography:false doc-type:PhDThesis open_access ddc ddc:303 ddc:330 ddc:600

Digital Platforms and Mobile Technologies for Development: Essays on Firm Formalization, Financial Inclusion, and Agricultural Resilience in Sub-Saharan Africa Olivia Wirth 303 330 600 Afrika Digitalisierung Landwirtschaft Finanzielle Inklusion Klimaanpassung Steuercompliance Mobile technologies and digital platforms have expanded rapidly across sub-Saharan Africa, creating opportunities to strengthen state capacity, broaden financial inclusion, and build agricultural resilience. This dissertation examines their development impacts across three settings. Chapter 1 combines novel administrative tax records with high resolution data on mobile network rollout in Uganda to estimate the effects of mobile internet access on firm tax behavior and public revenue. Exploiting plausibly exogenous rollout timing, we find that improved access increases firm formalization and expands the tax base, strengthening revenue collection. Chapter 2 presents a randomized controlled trial in Niger—the world’s most financially excluded country—to identify barriers to adoption of a mobile money platform. Information provision raises awareness but not use, consistent with information being necessary but insufficient for diffusion. By contrast, a modest financial incentive significantly increases both adoption and usage. Chapter 3 uses a household panel collected before and after a severe drought in northern Ghana and exploits variation in rainfall in a differences-in-differences framework to estimate effects on production, income sources and adaptation plans. We find that increasing drought severity lowers soybean yields and revenues and decreases reliance on own-business income and remittances, reflecting broader livelihood impacts. Farmers who use mobile phones to access agricultural information make different input choices and adaptation plans. Taken together, these findings highlight the promise of mobile technologies and digital platforms for development. Their effectiveness, however, depends on complementary infrastructure and local capacity, underscoring the need for scalable, context-specific strategies to harness these tools for inclusive growth and resilience. Universität Passau Passau Innstrasse 29, 94032 Passau 0000-0002-7897-4214 Michael Grimm 0000-0002-5969-9288 Stefan Bauernschuster 2025-12-15 2026-03-18 PhDThesis Text urn:nbn:de:bvb:739-opus4-20704 application/pdf eng Standardbedingung laut Einverständniserklärung thesis.doctoral Universität Passau Passau Wirtschaftswissenschaftliche Fakultät 1 https://opus4.kobv.de/opus4-uni-passau/oai/container/index/docId/2070 https://opus4.kobv.de/opus4-uni-passau/frontdoor/index/index/docId/2070