Multi-Country Experimental Evidence on Migration and Mobile Banking in South Asia

Last registered on August 01, 2025
View Trial History

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Multi-Country Experimental Evidence on Migration and Mobile Banking in South Asia
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0013856
Initial registration date
July 28, 2025

Initial registration date is when the trial was registered.

It corresponds to when the registration was submitted to the Registry to be reviewed for publication.

First published
August 01, 2025, 10:12 AM EDT

First published corresponds to when the trial was first made public on the Registry after being reviewed.

Locations

There is information in this trial unavailable to the public. Use the button below to request access.

Request Information

Primary Investigator

Name
Mahreen Mahmud
Affiliation
University of Exeter
Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Jonathan Morduch
PI Affiliation
New York University, Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service
Contact Investigator
PI Name
Abu Shonchoy
PI Affiliation
Florida International University
Contact Investigator
PI Name
Jean Lee
PI Affiliation
World Bank
Contact Investigator
PI Name
Saravana Ravindran
PI Affiliation
National University of Singapore
Contact Investigator

Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2025-03-23
End date
2026-12-31
Keywords
Finance & Microfinance, Welfare
Additional Keywords
Mobile banking
JEL code(s)
R23, O16, I32, O33
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial is based on or builds upon one or more prior RCTs.
Abstract
Experimental research in Bangladesh by Lee et al. (2018), now published in the American Economic Journal: Applied Economics (AEJ: Applied), showed promising positive impacts of the introduction of mobile money to urban migrants and their households at origin. In this project, we propose to expand the scope of the study to test the external validity of the results from Lee et al. (2018) in the subcontinent in two ways; first, through the use of a larger sample of migrant-household pairs in Bangladesh, and second, by including sites in Pakistan and India. This study will make use of a randomized control trial (RCT) design in each country, to study the impact of a deliberately-designed program in each country, and not a simple replication of the original experiment. Comparing the outcomes of the families who received DFS training (the “treatment” group) to those unaffected by the intervention (the “control” group) enables us to cleanly estimate the impacts of mobile money on household consumption or educational and health outcomes. Moreover, the site selection – where a site refers to a migration corridor, consisting of an origin and destination district – is first informed by a structural model.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Lee, Jean et al. 2025. "Multi-Country Experimental Evidence on Migration and Mobile Banking in South Asia." AEA RCT Registry. August 01. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.13856-1.0
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
The intervention will be a 45-minute training on the usage of a mobile money service. The intervention for the household and the corresponding migrant and will take place at the participant's home. The training will teach the participants to use a mobile money service provider. This includes downloading the app, setting up an account and the actual process of sending/receiving remittances.
Intervention Start Date
2025-07-31
Intervention End Date
2025-12-31

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Remittances, rural consumption, urban labor supply
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Rural poverty, borrowing, savings, self-employment, out-migration, education-related expenditures, and migrant physical and emotional health.
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
We plan to work in two migrant corridors in Bangladesh and India, and in one corridor in Pakistan. In each corridor, we will identify household-migrant pairs and then randomly split the sample into equal-sized treatment and control groups.
Experimental Design Details
Not available
Randomization Method
Randomisation will be done by the research team using Stata
Randomization Unit
Households
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
N/A
Sample size: planned number of observations
We expect around 8,000 household migrant pairs (16,000 respondents in total)
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
Split equally, so we expect to have 4,000 control and 4,000 treatment household migrant pairs.
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
New York University
IRB Approval Date
2024-05-22
IRB Approval Number
IRB-FY2024-8003
Analysis Plan