Social Learning and Communication / Ariel BenYishay, A. Mushfiq Mobarak.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

BenYishay, Ariel.

Contributor:

National Bureau of Economic Research.

Mobarak, A. Mushfiq.

Series:

Working Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research) no. w20139.

NBER working paper series no. w20139

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource: illustrations (black and white);

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Mass. National Bureau of Economic Research 2014.

Summary:

Low adoption of agricultural technologies holds large productivity consequences for developing countries. Agricultural extension services counter information failures by deploying external agents to communicate with farmers. However, social networks are recognized as the most credible source of information about new technologies. We incorporate social learning in extension policy using a large-scale field experiment in which we communicate to farmers using different members of social networks. We show that communicator effort is susceptible to small performance incentives, and the social identity of the communicator influences learning and adoption. Farmers find communicators who face agricultural conditions and constraints most comparable to themselves to be the most persuasive. Incorporating communication dynamics can take the influential social learning literature in a more policy-relevant direction.

Notes:

Print version record

May 2014.