The joint effects of information and financing constraints on technology adoption: Evidence from a field experiment in rural Tanzania

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Harou, Aurelie P.; Madajewicz, Malgosia; Michelson, Hope; Palm, Cheryl A.; Amuri, Nyambilila; Magomba, Christopher; Semoka, Johnson M.; Tschirhart, Kevin; Weil, Ray
• 署名单位: McGill University; Columbia University; University of Illinois System; University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign; State University System of Florida; University of Florida; Sokoine University of Agriculture; Sokoine University of Agriculture; Columbia University; University System of Maryland; University of Maryland College Park
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0304-3878
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jdeveco.2021.102707
• 发表日期: 2022
• 关键词: information; liquidity; Sub-Saharan Africa; Soil quality; fertilizer; agriculture

摘要

Low investment in profitable technologies contributes to persistent poverty. Many farmers in developing countries invest too little in fertilizer despite evidence that fertilizer is profitable. This field experiment investigates a two-part explanation: (1) farmers are reluctant to invest without farm-specific evidence of profitability, possibly because of heterogeneous returns, and (2) information is not sufficient to increase investment because of financing constraints. Farmers in one arm of the experiment receive fertilizer recommendations based on tests of their soils, others receive recommendations paired with an input subsidy, and others receive only the input subsidy. Only farmers who receive recommendations and the subsidy increase fertilizer application and yields relative to the control group. The financing constraint may explain limited response to heterogeneous fertilizer recommendations. The approximate net benefit of increased yields, accounting for the full cost of inputs and soil tests, is equivalent to average wages for seven days of work.