Agricultural input subsidies, credit constraints and expectations of future transfers: evidence from Haiti

Jérémie Gignoux, Karen Macours, Daniel Stein and Kelsey Wright
Additional contact information
Daniel Stein: IDinsight

PSE Working Papers from HAL

Abstract: We examine the effects of a subsidy program in Haiti which provided smallholders subsidies for modern inputs (rice seeds, fertilizer, pesticides and specific labor tasks) through a randomized control trial. The program led to lower input use and lower yields in the year subsidies were received, and the decline in input use and yields persisted through the following year. Using data from a complementary information intervention in which randomly selected farmers were provided clarifications regarding their status in the program, we find evidence suggesting that incorrect expectations of future transfers help explain the disappointing outcomes. In addition, instead of increasing input use, subsidies seem to have led farmers to pay off their loans and take fewer new ones. In a complex postemergency environment as the one in which this program took place, input subsidies may need to be avoided, as they require considerable information to optimally design and careful coordination by many actors to achieve the expected gains.

Keywords: Smallholders; Input subsidies; Yields; Impacts; Agricultural development Smallholders; Agricultural development (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021-02
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-agr
Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://shs.hal.science/halshs-03131411v1
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://shs.hal.science/halshs-03131411v1/document (application/pdf)

Related works:
Working Paper: Agricultural input subsidies, credit constraints and expectations of future transfers: evidence from Haiti (2021)
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:psewpa:halshs-03131411

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in PSE Working Papers from HAL
Bibliographic data for series maintained by CCSD ().