Premium
Incentives and the Diffusion of Agricultural Knowledge: Experimental Evidence from Northern Uganda
Author(s) -
Shikuku Kelvin Mashisia,
Pieters Janneke,
Bulte Erwin,
Läderach Peter
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
american journal of agricultural economics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.949
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1467-8276
pISSN - 0002-9092
DOI - 10.1093/ajae/aaz010
Subject(s) - incentive , reputation , agriculture , diffusion , dissemination , sample (material) , business , agricultural economics , economics , geography , microeconomics , political science , sociology , social science , chemistry , physics , archaeology , chromatography , law , thermodynamics
We present results of a randomized evaluation that assesses the effects of different incentives for diffusion of agricultural knowledge by smallholders in northern Uganda. Randomly‐selected disseminating farmers (DFs) from a large sample of villages are assigned to one of three experimental arms: ( a ) training about climate smart agriculture, ( b ) training plus a material reward for knowledge diffusion, and ( c ) training plus a reputational gain for knowledge diffusion. We find that leveraging somebody's reputation (or social recognition) has a positive impact on DFs' experimentation and diffusion effort. This impact is stronger than that measured in the private material rewards treatment.