 Paying for agricultural information in Malawi: The role of soil heterogeneityJulia Berazneva, Annemie Maertens, Wezi Mhango and Hope Michelson Journal of Development Economics, 2023, vol. 165, issue C Abstract: We examine the relationship between soil heterogeneity and investment in learning among farmers in Malawi using an experimental approach. Soil heterogeneity may both impede social learning and encourage experimentation. In our experiment, farmers contribute towards the purchase of a single soil test in the village in a threshold public goods game. This soil test provides farmers with valuable and actionable information. By randomly varying the plot selected for soil testing we establish the role of soil heterogeneity. We find that farmers contribute more when they perceive soils to be more similar to their own plot, but also free ride on others whose soils they perceive as similar. This free riding increases in larger groups of farmers with similar soils. Despite this, all villages consistently contribute enough to purchase the soil test. Keywords: Heterogeneity; Learning; Soils; Public goods game; Experiment; Malawi (search for similar items in EconPapers) Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:deveco:v:165:y:2023:i:c:s0304387823000998 DOI: 10.1016/j.jdeveco.2023.103144 Access Statistics for this article Journal of Development Economics is currently edited by M. R. Rosenzweig More articles in Journal of Development Economics from Elsevier |
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