Abstract: This paper presents short-term results from an experiment randomizing the promotion and registration of a mobile savings account among women microentrepreneurs in Tanzania, with and without business training. Six months post-intervention, the results show that women save substantially more through the mobile account, and that the business training bolstered this effect. Women also obtain more microloans through the mobile account, an additional service provided by the product. The business training further led to an increase in the business practices of the women. We find no significant evidence that these impacts translate into greater investment, sales, and profits, but we see some evidence of increased business expansion through the creation of profitable secondary businesses, as well as improvements in women’s empowerment and subjective well-being.

Abstract: What drives young adults’ occupational choices? Answering this question is es- pecially relevant in Africa, where one-fifth of the world’s youth reside. Through a survey of 1,003 young men and women in urban Uganda, we highlight the role of in- formation, expectations and preferences for occupational choice. First, we show that respondents are misinformed about population earnings and overoptimistic about their own prospects. Providing information lowers their expectations but does not affect their choices. Second, we isolate preferences by estimating a random utility model and find that financial returns and family approval are important determi- nants of occupational choice. Finally, we show that expectations and preferences translate into occupational sorting by gender, a major driver of the gender earnings gap. We investigate possible avenues to mitigate this sorting. Simulated counterfac- tuals suggest that relaxing perceived family approval constraints is associated with an 11% increase in the share of women choosing a male-dominated occupation.

Abstract: In Tanzania and Indonesia, we promoted the expansion of mobile savings accounts among women micro-entrepreneurs and provided them with business related training. In doing so, we simultaneously relaxed supply- and demand side constraints to savings that women might face. In both countries, the training enhanced the impact of promoting mobile savings. In Indonesia it led women to save more overall, including a nascent use of mobile accounts, and report greater decision making power within the household. In Tanzania, it led to substantially higher mobile savings, new businesses and products, more capital investment, labor effort, and better business practices. However, these short-term impacts have yet to translate into higher business profits. In Indonesia, we observe increased household welfare, but no discernible effects on business outcomes shortly after the training ended. In Tanzania, the increased business investments were not accompanied by greater profitability.