Affiliation:
1. University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
2. Goethe University Frankfurt, Frankfurt, Germany
Abstract
Abstract
Low levels of investment into modern technologies, and limited use of measures that have low monetary cost but the potential for high yields, are often regarded as obstacles to further agricultural development. This paper investigates farmers’ demand for one such measure, namely agricultural advisory services. These have modest (most frequently zero) monetary user cost but, according to some recent research, have the potential to result in large increases of yields. Yet demand for these extension services is often low. We propose that costly attention may be part of the explanation for this. In our model, advisory services are available free of charge, but positive effects on production are only realized if farmers devote attention to listening to and implementing the provided advice. Modeling farmers as rational decision makers facing scarce attention, we identify the circumstances under which farmers may optimally abstain from demanding advisory services. The model complements the insights of other theories commonly used to explain suboptimal farm decisions and outcomes, and generates testable predictions, which are consistent with empirical evidence based on a large farm-level panel dataset from Sub-Saharan Africa.
Publisher
Oxford University Press (OUP)
Subject
Economics and Econometrics,Finance,Development,Accounting
Reference87 articles.
1. Rational Inattention in Hiring Decisions;Acharya;American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics,2020
2. Dial “A” for Agriculture: A Review of Information and Communication Technologies for Agricultural Extension in Developing Countries;Aker;Agricultural Economics,2011
3. Attention and Selection Effects;Ambuehl,2018
4. Agricultural Extension;Anderson;Handbook of Agricultural Economics,2007
Cited by
7 articles.
订阅此论文施引文献
订阅此论文施引文献,注册后可以免费订阅5篇论文的施引文献,订阅后可以查看论文全部施引文献