Working Papers

The WNE Working Papers series has been published by the Faculty of Economic Sciences at the University of Warsaw since 2008.

The WNE Working Papers series provides a fast, open channel for disseminating research conducted at the Faculty of Economic Sciences, University of Warsaw. The papers hosted here are working versions (pre-prints) and may evolve as authors refine their analyses, incorporate feedback, or progress through formal peer-review. What you read is the current version released by the authors, timestamped and assigned DOI/ISSN identifiers to ensure precise citation and version tracking. Copyright remains with the authors, who may, at any time, upload a revised file or add a note directing readers to a later, peer-reviewed publication.

The Working Papers series accepts articles by research employees of the Faculty and publications from conferences organised at the Faculty of Economic Sciences at the University of Warsaw. Articles should be original research papers which have not been previously published, on the subject of economics.

Please send your paper by e-mail: d#YXF\f`A=Zo4ci.wWrsg/mH'|C]#[\uLD+KNQy#@b'zaw]`hkpoR=1m+ 

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(1) the main text without the title of the article and the authors (DOC/DOCX file) and

(2) the title page including: the title of the paper, the authors and their affiliation (DOC/DOCX file).

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Number of Results 4

WP(21/2024)457. The Impact of Mobile Phones on Change in Employment Status in South Africa

Authors: Grzybowski Łukasz, Zubair Maghmood Patel
In this paper we analyse whether having a mobile phone impacts chances of getting employed. We use five waves of panel data from the National Income Dynamic Survey (NIDS), which was conducted in South Africa between years 2008 and 2017. In the estima…

WP457. The Impact of Mobile Phones on Change in Employment Status in South Africa

In this paper we analyse whether having a mobile phone impacts chances of getting employed. We use five waves of panel data from the National Income Dynamic Survey (NIDS), which was conducted in South Africa between years 2008 and 2017. In the estimation we include a vector of observable individual and household characteristics and account for unobserved heterogeneity amongst individuals. The estimation results suggest that mobile phone ownership has a positive impact on the change in employment status from unemployed to employed. On the other hand, ownership of a computer by a household and computer literacy do not increase the likelihood of getting employed. The average probability of becoming employed increases from 54.2% when no one among unemployed adults has a mobile phone to 57.4% when all of them have a mobile phone, which is an increase of 5.9%.


DOI: https://doi.org/10.33138/2957-0506.2024.21.457
Grzybowski Łukasz, Zubair Maghmood Patel
Mobile phones Employment NIDS South Africa

WP(20/2024)456. Mobile money and financial inclusion in Sub-Saharan Africa

Authors: Grzybowski Łukasz, Valentin Lindlacher, Onkokame Mothobi
In this paper, we utilize survey data collected in 2017 from 12,735 individuals across nine Sub- Saharan African countries. We merge the survey data with geographic information related to the proximity of mobile network towers and banking facilities,…

WP456. Mobile money and financial inclusion in Sub-Saharan Africa

In this paper, we utilize survey data collected in 2017 from 12,735 individuals across nine Sub- Saharan African countries. We merge the survey data with geographic information related to the proximity of mobile network towers and banking facilities, based on the geo-locations of the respondents. Our estimation approach comprises a two-stage model. In the first stage, consumers make choices between adopting a feature phone or a smartphone. In the second stage, they make decisions regarding the use of mobile money services. Our findings reveal that network coverage significantly influences the adoption of mobile phones. Moreover, we observe that mobile money services are more favored by younger and relatively wealthier individuals for sending money, while older individuals and those with lower incomes tend to use mobile wallets for receiving money. Consequently, mobile money services facilitate younger migrant workers residing in areas with better infrastructure in providing support to their older relatives in less developed regions.


DOI: https://doi.org/10.33138/2957-0506.2024.20.456
Grzybowski Łukasz, Valentin Lindlacher, Onkokame Mothobi
Mobile money Sub-Saharan Africa Financial inclusion

WP(8/2009)18. Labour Market Racial Discrimination in South Africa Revisited

Authors: Szelewicki Maciej, Tyrowicz Joanna
Discrimination is a significant issue in labour market economics across developed as well as developing countries. In this paper we inquire the actual size of wage discrimination in the Republic of Soutn Africa, accounting for large differences in in…

WP18. Labour Market Racial Discrimination in South Africa Revisited

Discrimination is a significant issue in labour market economics across developed as well as developing countries. In this paper we inquire the actual size of wage discrimination in the Republic of Soutn Africa, accounting for large differences in individual endowments. We apply the Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition as well as propensity score matching to adequately determine the role of discrimination in the wage gaps observed. Although the size of the absolute racial wage gap is enormous, amounting for more than 500%, the actual estimated effect non-attributable to other factors ranges between 45%-55%. This estimator, however, assumes homogenous discrimination across the wage distribution, while data suggest that there are significant educational, sectoral and occupational differentials. To account for these effects, we implement propensity score matching by finding 'statistical twins' of the White population among the Black population, thus we demonstrate how wages differ between these groups in comparable labour market situations. Here too we find that wages for the White are on average approximately 30%, while the effects vary at quartiles of the wage distribution.


Szelewicki Maciej, Tyrowicz Joanna
discrimination Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition propensity score matching Republic of South Africa racial wage gap

WP(/2008)6. Foreign Debt And Domestic Savings In Developing Countries

Authors: Okafor Luke Emeka, Tyrowicz Joanna
This paper approaches the question of potential causality between foreign debt and domestic savings in the context of developing countries. Literature provides evidence in as far as foreign debt and development is concerned, but little attention was …

WP6. Foreign Debt And Domestic Savings In Developing Countries

This paper approaches the question of potential causality between foreign debt and domestic savings in the context of developing countries. Literature provides evidence in as far as foreign debt and development is concerned, but little attention was given so far to internal potential for capital formation. We provide a theoretical framework and test its relevance using 1975-2004 data for two groups of countries: sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America with the Caribbean. With the use of instrumental variables we find negative impact of foreign debt on domestic savings especially in the long run. The results are not susceptible to the choice of countries or outliers. However, the relationship between foreign debt and savings seems to depend on debt accumulation gaining significance only after passing a country specific threshold.


Okafor Luke Emeka, Tyrowicz Joanna
foreign debt domestic savings Latin America Africa MIU
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