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Paper short abstract:

This study represents one of the pioneering Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs) examining the effects of cash and mobile money delivery mechanisms, along with privacy of information, on women's economic empowerment and intimate partner violence (IPV) reduction.

Paper long abstract:

This study represents one of the pioneering Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs) examining the effects of cash and mobile money delivery mechanisms, along with privacy of information, on women's economic empowerment and intimate partner violence (IPV) reduction. The study targeted 2000 refugee and host women residing in mobile phone-owning households in Uganda, employing randomization to allocate participants into four treatment groups and a control group. Two treatment groups received cash transfers, while the remaining two received mobile money transfers. In one cash transfer group and one mobile money group, the transfer information was privately provided to the target woman, while in the other two groups, the information was shared with both the target woman and her spouse, following the current practice of many cash transfer programs.

The findings reveal that combining privacy of information with mobile money transfers significantly enhances women's decision-making within the household and self-efficacy. Mobile money promotes their engagement in self-employment activities, and positively impacts women's labor supply outcomes when the husband is aware of the transfer. Moreover, it is observed that cash transfers effectively reduce IPV when the information regarding the transfer is known to both the woman and her spouse. These findings contribute to the growing body of evidence on the effectiveness of specific delivery mechanisms and the role of privacy in fostering women's economic empowerment and IPV reduction within the context of cash transfer programs.