Fall 2025 Harry ’51 and Joshua ’49 Tsujimoto Perspectives in Global Development Seminar Series
About the speaker
Jenny Aker is the Daniel G. Sisler Professor of Development Economics at Cornell University. Aker brings expertise in economic development in Africa, with a primary focus on the impact of information, and information technology, on development outcomes. Her research contributes to the role of development economics in agricultural markets, adult education and financial inclusion; the determinants and impacts of agricultural technology adoption; and the impact of different mechanisms and modalities of social protection. Outside of Cornell, she is also a Non-Resident Fellow at the Center for Global Development and the co-Chair of the Digital Identification and Finance Initiative in Africa Initiative at J-PAL Africa, which is based at the University of Cape Town.
Prior to Cornell, she was a Professor of Development Economics at The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy and Department of Economics at Tufts University. At Fletcher, she was the Co-Director of the Center for International Environment and Resource Policy (CIERP) and the Director of the Fletcher Leadership Program for Financial Inclusion (FLPFI). Jenny is the 2017 recipient of the Fletcher School Research Prize and the 2015 recipient of the Fletcher School Paddock Teaching Award.
After working for Catholic Relief Services as Deputy Regional Director in West and Central Africa between 1998 and 2003, Jenny completed her Ph.D. in agricultural economics at the University of California-Berkeley. Jenny has conducted field work in Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Chad, DRC, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Liberia, Mali, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Sudan and Tanzania, as well as Haiti and Guatemala.
Abstract
Despite the potential impacts of digital financial services (DFS) on household welfare, adoption rates remain low in some of the world’s poorest countries. A key question is whether households face behavioral or information frictions that marginal incentives can overcome, and how this interacts with uneven supply. To investigate this, we implement a randomized controlled trial in Niger to estimate the causal effect of information provision and pecuniary incentives on DFS adoption and subsequent welfare outcomes. We further integrate spatial data on agent networks to assess the role of supply-side constraints as barriers to market penetration. The results indicate that relaxing information asymmetries increases awareness but does not shift adoption behavior, consistent with models in which information is a necessary but not sufficient condition for technology diffusion. By contrast, a modest financial transfer acts as a salient incentive, generating a statistically significant increase in both adoption and usage, and allows households to smooth consumption in the face of shocks. This suggests that both liquidity constraints and present-biased preferences may be binding impediments to diffusion.
Authors: Jenny C. Aker, Josue Awonon, Michael Grimm, Christina Petrik and Olivia Wirth
About the seminar series
The Harry ’51 & Joshua ’49 Tsujimoto Perspectives in Global Development Seminar Series showcases innovative approaches to development with experts from around the globe. Each year, the series attracts online registrants from over 45 countries and more than 350 organizations.
Seminars are held Wednesdays from 12:20-1:10 p.m. eastern time during the semester in 175 Warren Hall. Students, faculty and the general public are welcome to attend in-person or via Zoom.
The series is co-sponsored by the Department of Global Development, the Department of Natural Resources and the Environment, and the Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management as part of courses GDEV 4961, AEM 4961, NTRES 4961, GDEV 6960, AEM 6960, and NTRES 6960.
Date & Time
November 19, 2025
12:20 pm - 1:10 pm
Location
More information about this event.
Contact Information
Mariah Doyle-Stephenson
- md2237 [at] cornell.edu
Speaker
Jenny Aker, Cornell University
Departments
Global Development Section
Natural Resources and the Environment Section
Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management
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