Market Access and Quality Upgrading: Evidence from Four Field Experiments

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Bold, Tessa; Ghisolfi, Selene; Nsonzi, Frances; Svensson, Jakob
• 署名单位: Stockholm University; Catholic University of the Sacred Heart; Makerere University
• 刊物名称: AMERICAN ECONOMIC REVIEW
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0002-8282
• DOI: 10.1257/aer.20210122
• 发表日期: 2022
• 页码: 2518-2552
• 关键词: technology adoption; firm performance; farmers

摘要

Smallholder farming in many developing countries is characterized by low productivity and low-quality output. Low quality limits the price farmers can command and their potential income. We conduct a series of experiments among maize farmers in Uganda to shed light on the barriers to quality upgrading and to study its potential. We find that the causal return to quality is zero. Providing access to a market where quality is paid a market premium led to an increase in farm productivity and income from farming. Our findings reveal the importance of demand-side constraints in limiting rural income and productivity growth.