Growing their own: Unobservable quality and the value of self-provisioning

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Hoffmann, Vivian; Gatobu, Ken Mwithirwa
• 署名单位: 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.2013.08.006
• 发表日期: 2014
• 页码: 168-178
• 关键词: agriculture; Non-separability; INFORMATION; field experiment

摘要

Many important food quality and safety attributes are unobservable at the point of sale, particularly in informal markets with weak reputation effects. Through a framed field experiment conducted in western Kenya, we show that farmers place a large premium on maize they have grown themselves, relative to that available for purchase. Providing information on the origin of maize, and on its taste and safety, reduces this gap. We conclude that information which is unavailable during typical market transactions is important to how consumers value maize, and that imperfect information may contribute to the prevalence of agricultural production for subsistence needs in developing countries. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.