The effect of mobile technology on self-employment in Kenya

Abstract

This study examines the effect of mobile technologies on the choice of selfemployment in Kenya. The study used the 2016 household FinAccess retail survey data, which was collected using stratified multi-stage sampling to ensure representativeness at the national, regional, and residence (urban vs rural) levels. A probit model was used to analyse the data. The study finds that mobile phones, mobile money, mobile banking, and mobile credit influence one's decision to become self-employed. Other contributing factors include age, gender, marital status, education, wealth, place of residence, and the number of dependents in the household. These findings suggest that entrepreneurship policy in Kenya will have greater impact by enhancing access to mobile technologies.

What we know and don't know about the socioeconomic impacts of mobile money in Sub‐Saharan Africa: A systematic literature review

“…The use of MM appears to affect household employment decisions, but in inconsistent ways. In Kenya, Nigeria, Tanzania, and Uganda, MM users in general were more likely to become self‐employed (De Gasperin, Rotondi, & Stanca, 2019; Moyi, 2019). More specifically, smallholder farmers in rural Uganda were able to gain additional revenue from off‐farm businesses, which was made possible by instant payments via MM (Sekabira & Qaim, 2017).…”

Mobile phones, mobile Internet, and employment in Uganda

“…Using this variable will help us to analyze how mobile phone and mobile Internet use affect entrepreneurship, as studied for instance by Andjelkovic and Imaizumi (2012) and Moyi (2019). Mobile Internet may be used by entrepreneurs to contact new customers through existing social networks for example.…”

“…This phenomenon is considered an important vector of economic growth, especially in developing countries (Aker and Mbiti, 2010). It is now widely acknowledged that greater mobile phone penetration increases employment and supports entrepreneurship in many African countries such as Kenya (Moyi, 2019), and recent studies call for higher penetration of the most recent telecommunication technologies allowing the use of fast Internet on mobile phones, such as 4G and 5G networks (Commission et al, 2021). Some countries such as Uganda have experienced a slower adoption of mobile phones than leading countries such as Kenya, and have therefore received less attention from the academic literature.…”

Penggunaan Internet Dan Peluang Berwirausaha Di Indonesia

“…Lebih lanjut dikatakan bahwa internet merupakan instrumen yang tepat untuk usaha kecil. Kewirausahaan membutuhkan banyak informasi tentang pasar, harga, kualitas, input, keterampilan, dan sebagainya (Moyi, 2019). Dengan kecanggihan internet maka berbagai informasi tersebut dapat mudah diperoleh.…”