Microeconomics of Technology Adoption

Uncovering socioeconomic insights of solar dryers for sustainable agricultural product preservation: A systematic review

This review explores solar dryers' use for agricultural products, focusing on their socioeconomic benefits in the community. Despite significant technical advancements in solar dryers, there is a notable lack of documentation regarding their socioeconomic impacts on society. This gap impedes awareness of the potential benefits of solar dryers, contributing to their low adoption rates and, consequently, limiting their overall impact on society. A decade of published articles from Google Scholar, Scopus, Embase, and Taylor and Francis were synthesized through content analysis to gather evidence on the socioeconomic benefits of this technology. The review found technical advancements from passive to hybrid systems, highlighting their potential to enhance drying efficiency, product quality, and economic, social, and environmental benefits. The evidence of the socioeconomic benefits, in particular, indicates that solar dryers can increase farmers' annual profits by $15,683, reduce drying operation costs by $757.31, and save up to 5 days of drying time. Furthermore, the study found that solar dryers contribute to environmental conservation initiatives by mitigating the emission of up to 430,714.76 tons of CO2 in a year, minimizing overdependence on traditional energy sources, increasing energy accessibility, and optimizing drying space. However, the review identifies a need for further research to quantify solar dryers' impact on postharvest management, waste reduction, and job creation in the agricultural drying value chain. It also recommends involving society in technology co-creation and suggests that policymakers and practitioners incentivize their adoption through financial and non-financial support.

Good agricultural practices (GAP) adoption intensity and production constraints in apple orchards of western Nepal

The declaration of 'Fruits Decade 2016/17-2026/27' and the enaction of the 'NepalGAP Scheme' by the Government of Nepal has redirected increased public investments to promote apple production and marketability in the western high hills of Nepal. This study explores major good agricultural practices (GAP) related to orchard management, factors influencing their adoption intensity, and key underlying constraints to production using cross-sectional survey data from apple growers in Dolpa district, Nepal. The results showed that farmers mostly adopted GAP such as frequent weeding, intercropping, and nutrient management in apple orchards. Based on the negative binomial regression estimates, household characteristics such as gender of the orchard owner, experience, and number of literate household members were found influential in determining the GAP adoption intensity. The analysis of the problem severity index implied that apple production is mostly constrained by limited access to production inputs and transportation. The findings provide useful insights to the farmers and policymakers regarding the current scenario of GAP adoption along with the diversity of barriers that severely limits the realization of apple production potential in western Nepal.

Planned behavior, social networks, and perceived risks: Understanding farmers' behavior toward precision dairy technologies

Precision dairy tools (PDT) can provide timely information on individual cow's physiological and behavioral parameters, which can lead to more efficient management of the dairy farm. Although the economic rationale behind the adoption of PDT has been extensively discussed in the literature, the socio-psychological aspects related to the adoption of these technologies have received far less attention. Therefore, this paper proposes a socio-psychological model that builds upon the theory of planned behavior and develops hypotheses regarding cognitive constructs, their interaction with the farmers' perceived risks and social networks, and their overall influence on adoption. These hypotheses are tested using a generalized structural equation model for (a) the adoption of automatic milking systems (AMS) on the farms and (b) the PDT that are usually adopted with the AMS. Results show that adoption of these technologies is affected directly by intention, and the effects of subjective norms, perceived control, and attitudes on adoption are mediated through intention. A unit increase in perceived control score is associated with an increase in marginal probability of adoption of AMS and PDT by 0.05 and 0.19, respectively. Subjective norms are associated with an increase in marginal probability of adoption of AMS and PDT by 0.009 and 0.05, respectively. These results suggest that perceived control exerts a stronger influence on adoption of AMS and PDT, particularly compared with their subjective norms. Technology-related social networks are associated with an increase in marginal probability of adoption of AMS and PDT by 0.026 and 0.10, respectively. Perceived risks related to AMS and PDT negatively affect probability of adoption by 0.042 and 0.16, respectively, by having negative effects on attitudes, perceived self-confidence, and intentions. These results imply that integrating farmers within knowledge-sharing networks, minimizing perceived risks associated with these technologies, and enhancing farmers' confidence in their ability to use these technologies can significantly enhance uptake.

Risk aversion, impatience, and adoption of conservation agriculture practices among smallholders in Zambia

Sustainable agricultural practices such as conservation agriculture have been promoted in southern Africa for nearly three decades, but their adoption remains low. It is of policy interest to unpack behavioural drivers of adoption to understand why adoption remains lower than anticipated. This paper assesses the effects of risk aversion and impatience on the extent and intensity of the adoption of conservation agriculture using panel data collected from 646 households in 2021 and 2022 in Zambia. We find that 12% and 18% of the smallholders were impatient and risk averse, respectively. There are two main empirical findings based on panel data Probit and Tobit models. First, on the extensive margin, being impatient is correlated with a decreased likelihood of adopting combined minimum-tillage (MT) and rotation by 2.9 percentage points and being risk averse is associated with a decreased propensity of adopting combined minimum tillage (MT) and mulching by 3.2 percentage points. Being risk averse is correlated with a decreased chance of adopting basins by 2.8 percentage points. Second, on the intensive margin, impatience and risk aversion are significantly correlated with reduced adoption intensity of basins, ripping, minimum tillage (MT), and combined MT and rotation by 0.02-0.22 ha. These findings imply a need to embed risk management (e.g., through crop yield insurance) in the scaling of sustainable agricultural practices to incentivise adoption. This can help to nudge initial adoption and to protect farmers from yield penalties that are common in experimentation stages.

REPRESENTATION AND EXTRAPOLATION: EVIDENCE FROM CLINICAL TRIALS. THE QUARTERLY JOURNAL OF ECONOMICS 2024;139:575-635. [PMID: 38859982 PMCID: PMC11164133 DOI: 10.1093/qje/qjad036] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0]

This article examines the consequences and causes of low enrollment of Black patients in clinical trials. We develop a simple model of similarity-based extrapolation that predicts that evidence is more relevant for decision-making by physicians and patients when it is more representative of the group being treated. This generates the key result that the perceived benefit of a medicine for a group depends not only on the average benefit from a trial but also on the share of patients from that group who were enrolled in the trial. In survey experiments, we find that physicians who care for Black patients are more willing to prescribe drugs tested in representative samples, an effect substantial enough to close observed gaps in the prescribing rates of new medicines. Black patients update more on drug efficacy when the sample that the drug is tested on is more representative, reducing Black-white patient gaps in beliefs about whether the drug will work as described. Despite these benefits of representative data, our framework and evidence suggest that those who have benefited more from past medical breakthroughs are less costly to enroll in the present, leading to persistence in who is represented in the evidence base.

Changing the mindsets? Education and the intergenerational spread of tolerance for physical violence against women in Zimbabwe

We investigate the relationship between childhood exposure to interparental violence and adult tolerance for violent beliefs against women. For individuals who have witnessed parental violence in childhood, our analysis suggests a 14.3-15.2 percentage point (pp) increase in tolerance, highlighting the transmission of violent beliefs across generations. Leveraging Zimbabwe's 1980 education reform as a natural experiment through a regression discontinuity design, we explore the potential of increased education to disrupt this intergenerational transmission. The reform led to an approximately two-year increase in female education, with a more pronounced impact in rural areas. This educational boost is associated with an estimated 4.1-7.9 pp reduction in tolerance for violence, especially among those who witnessed parental violence in childhood. We identify four primary mechanisms contributing to this reduction in tolerance: enhanced access to information, increased help-seeking behaviours, improved labour market outcomes, and higher educational levels among partners. Our findings underscore the effectiveness of educational policies in reducing tolerance for violence against women within low-income contexts such as Zimbabwe, thereby disrupting its intergenerational transmission. Moreover, these results emphasise the potential of education-based interventions in addressing the broader issue of violence against women in low-income countries.

Sustainability transition for Indian agriculture

Farming in India faces a sustainability challenge due to its overreliance on chemical inputs. For every US$ 1,000 investment in sustainable farming, a US$ 100,000 subsidy is allocated for chemical fertilizers. Indian farming system is far off the optimal nitrogen efficiency, calling for substantial reforms in policy towards the transition to sustainable inputs. We examine the propensity of Indian farmers to adopt biofertilizers and other sustainable inputs. While small farmers are inclined towards chemical inputs, sustainable inputs are costly. Here we show that less than 5 per cent of the farming population contributes to the 95 per cent usage of the bio-fertilizer in India. However, small and marginal farmers contribute substantially to food security. Shifting from chemical to sustainable inputs calls for autonomous investment by the state to augment the capacity and improve affordability. We illustrate the transition to sustainability through a framework that includes scale, affordability, and sustainable inputs.

Heterogeneous impacts of home-gardening on household food and nutrition security in Rwanda

This study examines farmers' decisions to engage in subsistence home-gardening and its impact on food and nutrition security among farm households in Rwanda under diverse conditions. The study uses a nationally representative dataset from Rwanda from 2012, 2015, and 2018. We employ an endogenous switching regression model to jointly estimate the drivers of home-gardening participation decisions and food and nutrition security outcomes, whiles accounting for selection bias from observable and unobservable factors. We also estimate the treatment effects of home-gardening participation on dietary diversity, food consumption score, and anthropometric markers of women and children. The treatment effects are calculated at sample means and connected to market-related variables, such as land ownership, commercialization extent, and market distance. We find that having a home-garden is linked to improved dietary diversity and better nutritional outcomes. If households have restricted access to land and reside further away from marketplaces, the benefits are larger. In contrast, the benefits of home-gardening are positive and significant regardless of the level of commercialization of production. We also discover that family size, gender, education, access to land, and livestock ownership are statistically significant drivers of home-gardening participation in Rwanda. However, the amount of commercialization did not affect a household's decision to participate in home-gardening.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12571-023-01344-w.

Can Agricultural Socialized Services Promote the Reduction in Chemical Fertilizer? Analysis Based on the Moderating Effect of Farm Size

On the basis of the data of 855 farmer households in the 2020 China Land Economic Survey, this paper uses an extended regression model to empirically study the impact of agricultural socialized services on the reduction in chemical fertilizer and the moderating effect of farm size in the above impact path. The results show that adoption of agricultural socialized services by farmers can significantly promote reduction in chemical fertilizer. The moderating effect test shows that the farm size is instrumental in strengthening the effect of promoting agricultural socialized services on the reduction in chemical fertilizer. The effect of technology-intensive services on fertilizer reduction was more pronounced than that of labor-intensive services. Agricultural socialized services have a greater effect on the reduction in chemical fertilizer for farmers with a higher degree of part-time employment, but farm size can significantly enhance the fertilizer reduction effect generated by the adoption of agricultural socialized services by farmers with a lower degree of part-time employment. Therefore, we recommend further developing agricultural socialized services, strengthening the supply of agricultural green production services, and playing the role of agricultural socialized services in chemical fertilizer reduction. We also posit that encouraging large-scale farmers to adopt agricultural socialized services would further promote fertilizer reduction.

Analysis of Influencing Factors and Mechanism of Farmers' Green Production Behaviors in China

The green production behavior of pig farmers is the basis for high-quality development in animal husbandry. In order to solve the problem of poor green production behaviors in small- and medium-sized pig farmers, it is necessary to analyze the influencing factors and how they interact with each other. The Rational Peasant Theory and Prospect Theory were used in this paper to analyze the occurrence motivation of the green production behaviors of small- and medium-sized pig farmers. The Logit model and the ISM analysis method were used to test the influencing factors and their mechanisms. This was conducted using data from a study of 747 small- and medium-sized pig farmers in Henan Province. The results show that the green production behaviors of small- and medium-sized pig farmers are motivated by internal expected return, affected by the monitoring pressure from external stakeholders and limited by their own resource capacity; the influencing factors of different green production behaviors are different, and there are more influencing factors of scientific disease control, standardized management and waste recycling than of rational feeding. The following shows how the influencing factors on pig farmers' green production behavior interact with one another: level of education → external pressure, farming conditions and operating characteristics → cognition of return → green production behavior (i.e., cognition of return is the direct factor; external pressure, farming conditions and operating characteristics are indirect factors; and level of education is the underlying factor). Some measures should be implemented to promote green production behaviors, such as the continuation of the support for green production, the strengthening of supervision and publicity, the increasing of investment in technology and equipment, and the improving of the green production literacy of farmers. In conclusion, this paper deepens the understanding of the mechanism of green production behaviors of small- and medium-sized pig farmers, and provides the theoretical basis and concrete measures for the government and for pig farmers.

Improved maize technology adoption and its intensity among male- and female-headed households in Dawuro zone, Southwestern Ethiopia

Both male- and female-headed farm households grow maize in Ethiopia. However, little is known about the difference between male- and female-headed households in the adoption of high-yielding technologies for maize. This study examines the difference between male- and female-headed households in their decision to adopt and the intensity of adoption of improved maize technologies in Dawuro zone, Southwestern Ethiopia. The study uses primary data collected in 2018 from 560 maize-producing households in Dawuro zone, Ethiopia. As the female-headed households are not homogenous, this study separately assessed gender differences in improved maize technology adoption between de facto female-headed households and de jure female-headed households. The results show that the intensity of adoption of improved maize varieties (IMVs) and chemical fertilizers on plots managed by male-headed households is statistically different from those managed by female-headed households. The intensity of adoption of IMVs and chemical fertilizers by female-headed household is lower compared to male-headed households. As economic status is a key driver of the adoption of IMVs and fertilizer application, it is recommended that the policies and programs that aim at developing and disseminating quality maize seeds and fertilizers in Dawuro zone should support economically poor female-headed households, particularly, de jure female heads.

From the laboratory to the consumer: Innovation, supply chain, and adoption with applications to natural resources

Research on innovation has two strands: institutions undertaking innovation as a research and development process and companies commercializing innovative products. We combine these strands, analyzing a sequence going from an innovation supply chain to a product supply chain from laboratory to market. We argue that these supply chains are symbiotic, and the relationship between entities is affected by economic considerations. Our framework allows an understanding of how research, regulatory policies, and economic conditions affect the emergence of innovations, the creation of institutions (markets, firms, contracts) to carry out these innovations, and the diffusion of the resulting products. Our approach may improve the design of strategies to induce climate change and food security solutions.

We analyze the transition from innovative ideas to final marketed products. This transition occurs through two synergetic supply chains for innovation and products. Basic concepts are developed, tested, upscaled, and introduced to commercial use in the innovation supply chain. Then, the products are produced and delivered to the consumer through the product supply chain. We argue that product markets trace their birth to product innovations. These markets tend to start as noncompetitive, which rewards innovators. Credit access and risk determine the reliance on contracting and product diffusion over space and time. The innovation and product supply chains are encouraged and facilitated by public policies, such as support for research and education, intellectual property rights protection, low barriers to trade, science-based regulation, and well-functioning capital markets. We argue for multidisciplinary research incorporating knowledge from economics, business, and engineering to better understand the evolution of innovative companies and supply chains. This understanding will help the development of policies to address challenges of climate change and food security among others.

What influences Bangladeshi Boro rice farmers' adoption decisions of recommended fertilizer doses: A case study on Dinajpur district

Due to the combined effect of biotic and abiotic constraints, rising population pressure, and inelastic demand in the crop and horticulture sector, Bangladesh has had to adopt heavily subsidized and intensified fertilizer policies to enhance crop productivity, achieve and sustain self-sufficiency in food production, and food security provision. Although the initiative has played a vital role in boosting production, it has also invigorated the unbalanced amount of fertilizer application practices raising questions about maintaining biodiversity and ecosystem services while feeding the nation's population. Further research in this area must thus be applied to monitor and improve this sector. This study attempts to understand the issue by investigating the factors influencing Boro rice farmers' adoption decisions of recommended fertilizer doses. The study employs an ordered probit model with a sample selection approach. The investigation is based on collected data from 405 randomly selected farmers using a face-to-face interview method. The farmers were classified into low, middle, high and non-adopter groups. The study revealed that farmers' age, land typology, soil water retention, knowledge, and availability of cow dung significantly influenced farmers' decision to apply fertilizers. However, farmers' carry an aversion to following recommendations for fertilizer application due to their ambiguity about the whole system, their current fertilizer application-seeking behavior, and the lack of understanding of the environmental benefits of adoption. These issues urge policy interventions to initiate village-based demonstration programs that synthesize better synergies between recommended dose adoption, yield amelioration, sustainable soil care, and economics.

Impact of Hospital Characteristics and Governance Structure on the Adoption of Tracking Technologies for Clinical and Supply Chain Use: Longitudinal Study of US Hospitals

Background

Despite the increasing adoption rate of tracking technologies in hospitals in the United States, few empirical studies have examined the factors involved in such adoption within different use contexts (eg, clinical and supply chain use contexts). To date, no study has systematically examined how governance structures impact technology adoption in different use contexts in hospitals. Given that the hospital governance structure fundamentally governs health care workflows and operations, understanding its critical role provides a solid foundation from which to explore factors involved in the adoption of tracking technologies in hospitals.

Objective

This study aims to compare critical factors associated with the adoption of tracking technologies for clinical and supply chain uses and examine how governance structure types affect the adoption of tracking technologies in hospitals.

Methods

This study was conducted based on a comprehensive and longitudinal national census data set comprising 3623 unique hospitals across 50 states in the United States from 2012 to 2015. Using mixed effects population logistic regression models to account for the effects within and between hospitals, we captured and examined the effects of hospital characteristics, locations, and governance structure on adjustments to the innate development of tracking technology over time.

Results

From 2012 to 2015, we discovered that the proportion of hospitals in which tracking technologies were fully implemented for clinical use increased from 36.34% (782/2152) to 54.63% (1316/2409), and that for supply chain use increased from 28.58% (615/2152) to 41.3% (995/2409). We also discovered that adoption factors impact the clinical and supply chain use contexts differently. In the clinical use context, compared with hospitals located in urban areas, hospitals in rural areas (odds ratio [OR] 0.68, 95% CI 0.56-0.80) are less likely to fully adopt tracking technologies. In the context of supply chain use, the type of governance structure influences tracking technology adoption. Compared with hospitals not affiliated with a health system, implementation rates increased as hospitals affiliated with a more centralized health system—1.9-fold increase (OR 1.87, 95% CI 1.60-2.13) for decentralized or independent hospitals, 2.4-fold increase (OR 2.40, 95% CI 2.07-2.80) for moderately centralized health systems, and 3.1-fold increase for centralized health systems (OR 3.07, 95% CI 2.67-3.53).

Conclusions

As the first of such type of studies, we provided a longitudinal overview of how hospital characteristics and governance structure jointly affect adoption rates of tracking technology in both clinical and supply chain use contexts, which is essential for developing intelligent infrastructure for smart hospital systems. This study informs researchers, health care providers, and policy makers that hospital characteristics, locations, and governance structures have different impacts on the adoption of tracking technologies for clinical and supply chain use and on health resource disparities among hospitals of different sizes, locations, and governance structures.

Organizations in the knowledge economy. An investigation of knowledge-intensive work practices across 28 European countries

Purpose

This paper aims to investigate whether the shift towards the knowledge economy (e.g. an increasing reliance in knowledge in the production of goods and services) is related to the work practices of organizations (aimed at the provision of autonomy, investments in training and the use of technology).

Design/methodology/approach

The analyses are based on data about over 20,000 companies in 28 European countries. National level indicators of knowledge intensity are related to the work practices of these organizations. Multilevel analysis is applied to test hypotheses.

Findings

The results show that there is a strong and positive relationship between the knowledge intensity of the economy and the use of knowledge intense work practices.

Originality/value

To the best of our knowledge, this is one of the first papers to test whether knowledge intensity at the national level is related to the work practices of organizations.

Profitability of climate-smart soil fertility investment varies widely across sub-Saharan Africa

Soil fertility investments in sub-Saharan Africa, where budgetary resources are scarce, must be well targeted. Using a causal forest algorithm and an experimental maize trial dataset matched with geocoded rainfall, temperature and soils data, we modelled site-specific, ex ante distributions of yield response and economic returns to fertilizer use. Yield response to fertilizer use was found to vary with growing season temperature and precipitation and soil conditions. Fertilizer use profitability-defined as clearing a 30% internal rate of return in at least 70% of the years-was robust to growing season climate and the fertilizer-to-maize price ratio in several locations but not in roughly a quarter of the analysed area. The resulting profitability-assessment tool can support decision makers when climate conditions at planting are unknown and sheds light on the profitability determinants of different regions, which is key for effective smallholder farm productivity-enhancing strategies.

Fintech in the time of COVID−19: Technological adoption during crises

We document the effects of the COVID−19 pandemic on digital finance and fintech adoption. Drawing on mobile application data from a globally representative sample, we find that the spread of COVID− 19 and related government lockdowns led to a sizeable increase in the rate of finance app downloads. We then analyze factors that may have driven this effect on the demand−side and better understand the “winners” from this digital acceleration on the supply−side. Our overall results suggest that traditional incumbents saw the largest growth in their digital offerings during the initial period, but that “BigTech” companies and newer fintech providers ultimately outperformed them over time. Finally, we drill−down further on the adoption of fintech apps pertaining to both the asset and liability side of the traditional bank balance sheet, to explore the implications that the accelerated trends in digitization may have for the future landscape of financial intermediation.

Heterogenous Factors of Adoption of Agricultural Technologies in West and East Africa Countries: A Review

This review brings to light, extensive body of research on the evolvement of agricultural technology in Sub-Saharan Africa with focus on adoption studies in West and East Africa countries. The review highlights historical green revolution events and the heterogeneity in the determinants of the adoption of agricultural technology. Three key popular indicators in adoption studies were reviewed for their heterogeneity; this includes land, extension & social institutions, and gender in light of comparison of studies in West and East Africa. The review shows that there is so much to be gained from enhancing the understanding of the heterogeneity that exists in key popular indicators in adoption studies considering the importance of adoption of agricultural technology in reducing poverty and food insecurity and the evolving impact of climate change and other human attributes that has defined the modification of various agricultural technology. Also, the review highlights the need to tailor extension and social learning toward existing heterogeneity to aid in promoting the adoption of agricultural technology. An important highlight includes the need to be wary of the downsides of the earlier green revolution while driving the efforts of new green revolution in West and East Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa in general.

Estimating CO2 emissions from emergency-supply transport: The case of COVID-19 vaccine global air transport

The environmental cost of disaster-related emergency supplies is significant. However, little research has been conducted on the estimation of emergency-supply transportation-related carbon emissions. This study created an "emergency supply emission estimation methodology" (ESEEM). The CO2 emissions from the global air dispatch of COVID-19 vaccines were estimated using two hypothetical scenarios of one dose per capita and additional doses secured. The robustness of the model was tested with the Monte Carlo Simulation method (MCM) based one-sample t-test. The model was validated using the "Expression of Uncertainty in Measurement (GUM)" and GUM's MCM approaches. The results showed that to dispatch at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine to 7.8 billion people, nearly 8000 Boeing 747 flights will be needed, releasing approximately 8.1 ± 0.30 metric kilotons (kt) of CO2. As countries secure additional doses, these figures will increase to 14,912 flights and about 15 ± 0.48 kt of CO2. According to the variance-based sensitivity analysis, the total number of doses (population), technology, and wealth play a significant role in determining CO2 emissions across nations. Thus, wealthy nations' long-term population reduction efforts, technological advancements, and mitigation efforts can benefit the environment as a whole and the CO2 burdens associated with current COVID-19 and any future disasters' emergency-supply transportation.

Maize varietal replacement in Eastern and Southern Africa: Bottlenecks, drivers and strategies for improvement

Seed security is vital for food security. Rapid-cycle, climate-adaptive breeding programs and seed systems that deliver new, elite varieties to farmers to replace obsolete ones can greatly improve the productivity of maize-based cropping systems in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Despite the importance and benefits of accelerated varietal turnover to climate change adaptation and food security, the rate of maize varietal replacement in SSA is slow. This review outlines the major bottlenecks, drivers, risks, and benefits of active replacement of maize varieties in eastern and southern Africa (ESA) and highlights strategies that are critical to varietal turnover. Although there is an upsurge of new seed companies in ESA and introduction of new varieties with better genetics in the market, some established seed companies continue to sell old (over 15-year-old) varieties. Several recently developed maize hybrids in ESA have shown significant genetic gains under farmers' conditions. Empirical evidence also shows that timely replacement of old products results in better business success as it helps seed companies maintain or improve market share and brand relevance. Therefore, proactive management of product life cycles by seed companies benefits both the farmers and businesses alike, contributing to improved food security and adaptation to the changing climate.

In Vitro Technology in Plant Conservation: Relevance to Biocultural Diversity

Plant diversity is critical to the functioning of human societies, and evidence shows that plant conservation success is driven by integrative approaches that include social and biological factors. Plants have a unique capacity to reproduce asexually, and propagation practices can yield large numbers of plantlets. These plantlets can be used in several ways to fulfil conservation goals including the repopulation of regions with declining densities of threatened species that hold cultural meaning. However, the potential of in vitro technologies in the conservation of plants that hold cultural meaning is understudied. In this paper we focus upon the roles of in vitro technologies in the conservation of plants relevant to biocultural environments and provide an overview of potential knowledge gaps at the interface of in vitro and plants used traditionally, including those meaningful to Indigenous Peoples. We conclude that in vitro technologies can be powerful tools in biocultural conservation if they are deployed in a manner respectful of the socio-cultural context in which plants play a role, but that further research is needed in this regard. We suggest several epistemological points to facilitate future research.

Interventions to promote technology adoption in firms: A systematic review

Background

The adoption of improved technologies is generally associated with better economic performance and development. Despite its desirable effects, the process of technology adoption can be quite slow and market failures and other frictions may impede adoption. Interventions in market processes may be necessary to promote the adoption of beneficial technologies. This review systematically identifies and summarizes the evidence on the effects of interventions that shape the incentives of firms to adopt new technologies. Following Foster and Rosenzweig, technology is defined as "the relationship between inputs and outputs," and technology adoption as "the use of new mappings between input and outputs and the corresponding allocations of inputs that exploit the new mappings." The review focuses on studies that include direct evidence on technology adoption, broadly defined, as an outcome. The term intervention refers broadly to sources of exogenous variation that shape firms' incentives to adopt new technologies, including public policies, interventions carried out by private institutions (such as NGOs), experimental manipulations implemented by academic researchers trying to understand technology adoption, and natural experiments.

Objective

The objective of this review is to answer the following research questions: 1.To what extent do interventions affect technology adoption in firms?2.To what extent does technology adoption affect profits, employment, productivity, and yields?3.Are these effects heterogeneous across sectors, firm size, countries, workers' skill level, or workers' gender?

Selection Criteria

To be included, papers had to meet the inclusion criteria described in detail in Section 3.1 which is grouped into four categories: (1) Participants, (2) Interventions, (3) Methodology, and (4) Outcomes.Regarding participants, our focus was on firms, and we omitted studies at the country or region level. In terms of interventions, we included studies that analyzed a source of exogenous variation in incentives for firms to adopt new technologies and estimated their effects. Thus, we left out studies that only looked at correlates of technology adoption, without a credible strategy to establish causality, and only included studies that used experimental or quasi-experimental methods. Regarding outcomes, papers were included only if they estimated effects of interventions (broadly defined) on technology adoption, although we also considered other firm outcomes as secondary outcomes in studies that reported them.

Search Methods

The first step in selecting the studies to be included in the systematic review was to identify a set of candidate papers. This set included both published and unpublished studies. To look for candidate papers, we implemented an electronic search and, in a subsequent step, a manual search.The electronic search involved running a keyword search on the most commonly used databases for published and unpublished academic studies in the broad topic area. The words and their Boolean combinations were carefully chosen (more details in Section 3.2). The selected papers were initially screened on title and abstract. If papers passed this screen, they were screened on full text. Those studies that met the stated criteria were then selected for analysis.The manual search component involved asking for references from experts and searching references cited by papers selected through the electronic search. These additional papers were screened based on title and abstract and the remaining were screened on full text. If they met the criteria they were added to the list of selected studies.

Data Collection and Analysis

For the selected studies, the relevant estimates of effects and their associated standard errors (SEs) were entered into an Excel spreadsheet along with other related information such as sample size, variable type, and duration for flow variables. Other information such as authors, year of publication, and country and/or region where the study was implemented was also included in the spreadsheet.Once the data were entered for each of the selected studies, the information on sample size, effect size and SE of the effect size was used to compute the standardized effect size for each study to make the results comparable across studies. For those studies for which relevant data were not reported, we contacted the authors by email and incorporated the information they provided. Forest plots were then generated and within-study pooled average treatment effects were computed by outcome variable.In addition, an assessment of reporting on potential biases was conducted including (1) reporting on key aspects of selection bias and confounding, (2) reporting on spillovers of interventions to comparison groups, (3) reporting of SEs, and (4) reporting on Hawthorne effects and the collection of retrospective data.

Results

The electronic and manual searches resulted in 42,462 candidate papers. Of these, 80 studies were ultimately selected for the review after screenings to apply the selection criteria. Relevant data were extracted for analysis from these 80 studies. Overall, 1108 regression coefficients across various interventions and outcomes were included in the analysis, representing a total of 4,762,755 firms. Even though the search methods included both high-income and developing countries, only 1 of the 80 studies included in the analysis was in a high-income country, while the remaining 79 were in developing countries.We discuss the results in two parts, looking at firms in manufacturing and services separately from firms (i.e., farms) in agriculture. In each case, we consider both technology adoption and other firm outcomes.

Authors' Conclusions

Overall, our results suggest that some interventions led to positive impacts on technology adoption among firms across manufacturing, services, and agriculture sectors, but given the wide variation in the time periods, contexts, and study methodologies, the results are hard to generalize. The effects of these interventions on other firm performance measures such as farm yields, firm profits, productivity, and employment were mixed.Policy-makers must be careful in interpreting these results as a given intervention may not work equally well across contexts and may need to be adjusted to each specific regional context. There is great need for more research on the barriers to technology adoption by firms in developing countries and interventions that may help alleviate these obstacles. One major implication for researchers from our review is that there is a need to carefully measure technology adoption.

What Motivates You to Share? The Effect of Interactive Tailored Information Aids on Information Sharing about Clinical Trials

Cancer patients learn about research studies outside of the clinical environment, including websites, print and online advertisements, and interpersonal interactions. When cancer patients share credible information about clinical trials, they also frequently help clarify misunderstandings that may exist in their social networks. The present study investigated how an interactive tailored information aid on clinical trial participation motivated patients' information sharing behaviors. In this study of 312 cancer patients and survivors, an interactive tailored information aid improved patients' likelihood of sharing online and offline information more than a non-interactive tool. Information sharing was directly predicted by cognitive absorption and perceived visual informativeness. In addition, perceived utility and ease of use indirectly impact information sharing positively through the antecedent factors of user engagement and design esthetics. Education level further moderated this effect; information sharing was higher among patients with more education. The implications of these findings are discussed and recommendations for future research are provided.

Smallholder decision-making process in technology adoption intention: implications for Dipterocarpus alatus in Northeastern Thailand

Coupled with newly introduced technology, sustainable agriculture is considered a cooperative strategy for low-income countries to improve farm productivity and economic growth. This study focuses on analyzing the process of adoption intention with a new technology associated with the use of Dipterocarpus alatus, a large tree species restricted to Thailand. A conceptual framework of the technology acceptance model (TAM) has been applied to explain farmers' decision-making processes. The purposive sampling approach targets farmers in the area who have D. alatus trees on their properties. Structural equation models, latent variables, and the hypothesized adoption intention interactions are the primary tools used in analyzing the decision-making process. Results showed that adoption intention concerning D. alatus technology was significantly influenced by perceived ease of use and attitudes based on experience and environmental sensibilities. This study has extended the application of TAM, providing insight into decision-making processes that are not hindered by technology implementation.

Agricultural Policy and Long-Run Development: Evidence from Mussolini's Battle for Grain

This article explores the long-run effect of agricultural policies on industrialisation and economic development. I analyse the differential effect of the Battle for Grain, implemented by the Italian Fascist regime to achieve self-sufficiency in wheat, on the development path across areas of Italy. Employing cross-sectional variation in land suitability for advanced wheat production technologies, along with time variation in their diffusion, I find that the policy had unintended positive effects on industrialisation and economic prosperity, which have persisted until today. Furthermore, I find that the complementarity between human capital and agricultural technology was a critical mechanism.

Prevalence of Hypertension and Its Associated Risk Factors in a Rural Black Population of Mthatha Town, South Africa

Background: The occurrence of hypertension has been increasing alarmingly in both low and middle-income countries. Despite acknowledging hypertension as the most common life-threatening risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD), a dearth of data is available on the prevalence, awareness, and determinants of hypertension in rural parts of South Africa. The principal aim of the current study is to determine the prevalence and associated risk factors of hypertension among a black rural African population from the Mtatha town of Eastern Cape Province. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study, and individuals over 18 years of age were randomly screened using a World Health Organization stepwise questionnaire. Sociodemographic information, anthropometric measurements, fasting blood glucose levels, and three independent blood pressure (BP) readings were measured. Blood pressure measurements were classified according to the American Heart Association guidelines. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to determine the significant predictors of hypertension. Results: Of the total participants (n = 556), 71% of individuals had BP scores in the hypertensive range. In univariate analysis, age, westernized diet, education, income, and diabetic status, as well as overweight/obese status were positively associated with the prevalence of hypertension. However, in a multivariate logistic regression analysis only, age, body mass index (BMI), diabetic status, and westernized diet were significantly associated with a higher risk of developing hypertension. Gender, age, and BMI were potential factors having a significant association with the treatment of hypertension. Individuals who did not consider the importance of medicine had higher chances of having their hypertension being untreated. Conclusions: Prevalence of hypertension was high among the black rural African population of Mthatha town. Gender, age, westernized diet, education level, income status, diabetic as well as overweight/obese status were the most significant predictors of hypertension.

Irrigation, Technical Efficiency, and Farm Size: The Case of Brazil

In developing countries, irrigation can help to decrease poverty in rural areas through increased employment in the agricultural sector. Evidence shows that irrigation may increase farm productivity and technical efficiency. In this paper, we estimate the effect of irrigation on farm technical efficiency in Brazil using the 2006 Agricultural Census dataset on more than 4 million farms. We estimate a stochastic production frontier at farm level, considering potential selection bias in irrigation adoption. We find that farms using irrigation are on average 2.51% more technically efficient compared to rain-fed farms. Our findings also suggest that while small farms are more efficient than medium and large farms, the largest difference in technical efficiency between rain-fed and irrigated farms is among large farms. Our results indicate that policies that seek to support expansion of irrigation adoption has also the potential to achieve greater rural development given the estimated effects estimated in this paper among very small and small farms, which are more than 70% of the farms in Brazil.

Seasonal, annual, and spatial variation in cereal prices in Sub-Saharan Africa

Local food prices are key indicators of food security and market conditions. Yet price data are often not available, particularly for rural areas of Sub-Saharan Africa. We compiled data from 168 markets to study spatial and temporal price variation. We found that prices slightly increase when the preceding growing season was dry. Across the continent, there is pronounced seasonal variation, with lowest prices 2-3 months after harvest and highest prices just before harvest. A predictive model explained 42% of the spatial variation in prices. Our results show that spatial and temporal price variation can be generalized and that prices can be estimated for unsampled locations or months. Such estimates may be used to improve the targeting of food security interventions and strengthen empirical policy-oriented research.

Estimating non-hazardous industrial waste generation by sector, location, and year in the United States: A methodological framework and case example of spent foundry sand

Non-hazardous industrial waste (NHIW), primarily consisting of manufacturing process residues, has long been overlooked in waste reporting, regulation, and reuse. Limited information about NHIW generation with spatial and sectoral details has impeded the systematization of reuse efforts to move towards a resource-efficient economy. In this article, we develop a methodological framework that makes the best use of fragmented and limited observational data to infer the confidence intervals of NHIW generation by sector, location, and year across the United States. The framework decomposes the quantity of NHIW into two factors: the activity level (economic output) and the waste intensity factor (waste tonnage generated per unit of output). It statistically infers the probability distribution of the waste intensity factor and extrapolates waste tonnages to the entire country. In our demonstrative application of the method, we provide an updated estimate for spent foundry sand and find that its total amount in the United States decreased from 2.2-7.1 million tons in 2004 to 1.4-4.7 million tons in 2014. The spatial distribution, however, was highly uneven, with over 90% of the waste generated in 10% of the counties, indicating great variations in reuse potentials and benefits among regions. Our methodological framework makes a significant departure from existing estimations that usually rely on averaging limited observations or expert judgments biased by subjectivity. Detailing spatial and sectoral distributions and temporal trends in NHIW generation and reuse benefits, our study could inform more systematic strategies on waste and materials management to build a circular economy.

Digitalization-Based Innovation — A Case Study Framework

Small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have been leading innovation processes, where the upsurge of digital technology has overpowering implications on competitive positioning, firm’s value chains and overall business model. Value creation facilitated by emerging digital technologies alters costs, as well as process performance. Due to field research and in-depth interviews with owners and managers of SMEs in North-East Italy area, we combine and analyze evidence of the contingent challenges companies face while trying to redesign their business model. Our results point out that being able to accumulate and put into action external ideas can be vital in supplementing internal knowledge base and therefore crucial in escaping technological lock-ins; thus, imposing efforts toward digital transformation offers favorable outcoes.

Reconciling yield gains in agronomic trials with returns under African smallholder conditions

Increased adoption of improved agricultural technologies is considered an essential step to address global poverty and hunger, and agronomic trials suggest intensification in developing countries could result in large yield gains. Yet the promise of new technologies does not always carry over from trials to real-life conditions, and diffusion of many technologies remains limited. We show how parcel and farmer selection, together with behavioural responses in agronomic trials, can explain why yield gain estimates from trials may differ from the yield gains of smallholders using the same inputs under real-life conditions. We provide quantitative evidence by exploiting variation in farmer selection and detailed data collection from research trials in Western Kenya on which large yield increments were observed from improved input packages for maize and soybean. After adjusting for selection, behavioural responses, and other corrections, estimates of yield gains fall to being not significantly different from zero for the input package tested on one of the crops (soybean), but remain high for the other (maize). These results suggest that testing new agricultural technologies in real-world conditions and without researcher interference early in the agricultural research and development process might help with identifying which innovations are more likely to be taken up at scale.

The impact of early-life shocks on adult welfare in Brazil: Questions of measurement and timing

Recent literature provides evidence that income shocks early in life can have long-run consequences on adult welfare. Rural Brazil frequently suffers from rainfall variations that negatively impact vulnerable households, who often lack the means for coping with these events. This paper evaluates how early-life rainfall shocks influence adult health and socioeconomic outcomes in Brazil. We find evidence that several critical periods can produce long-run consequences. Using rainfall deviations, our two most robust results are that greater rainfall in utero negatively impacts adult incomes (finding that a one standard deviation increase in rainfall causes adult incomes to fall by 7-10 percent) and that greater rainfall in the second and third years of life improve adult health (increasing body mass index by 0.16). However, our results depend crucially on our choices regarding two features. First, our results differ across two common measures of critical periods, which are used to define shocks relative to the timing of one's birth. Second, the way rainfall variation is measured also matters, with use of an extreme weather indicator suggesting heterogeneous effects by gender, with extreme weather negatively impacting women's health (both before and after birth) but positively affecting several men's outcomes (both before and after birth). We find some evidence that mortality selection may drive some of these results. This paper provides further evidence that early-life shocks (from in utero through the third year of life) can cause long-run consequences, but also suggests that more attention should be paid to the specific measurement and timing of rainfall shocks.

Towards Cleaner Production: Certified Seed Adoption and Its Effect on Technical Efficiency

The implementation of new agricultural technologies has become a driving force for cleaner production on smallholder farms. Particularly, identifying technologies could enhance the efficiency and sustainability of agricultural production, both of which are serious challenges. In this context, evaluating the adoption of certified seed and its impact on efficiency gains and waste reduction is highly fundamental for sustainable smallholder food production. This perspective was not always considered in previous studies. We address this research gap using cross-sectional data from wheat farmers in northern Kazakhstan. A multi-stage sampling procedure is employed while the sample-selection stochastic production frontier (SPF) is applied for a robust estimation. Results reveal that increased crop income, access to credit and education positively influence the adoption of certified seed while membership in cooperatives and distance from the market are negative determinants. We also find that adopters are 10.3% “cleaner in production” than non-adopters. A comparison was made between the conventional SPF and the sample-selection SPF to evaluate the credibility of the estimation. It was found that the estimates from the conventional SPF were biased by 10%. This study provides insights into two policy and scholarly questions, namely, how effective the adoption of certified seeds is in promoting cleaner production among wheat farmers and how it can be promoted among wheat farmers. Therefore, our study presents substantial empirical evidence to encourage investment in or to promote certified seed adoption in wheat production.

Exploring Farmers’ Perceptions of Agricultural Technologies: A Case Study from Tanzania

The low agricultural productivity of key crops and food insecurity continue to be key issues in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and Tanzania. The growing population, depleting resources, and changing climate further amplify these issues. Globally, many agricultural technologies (AgTs) are available as pathways for improved agricultural productivity and food security, however, they have had relatively little success in SSA and Tanzania. This is because the uptake of AgTs is a complex process, which is highly localized, involving multiple actors, stages, and spatial and time dimensions. Smallholder farmers often experience issues of sustainability, constraints for adoption, and scaling-up throughout the uptake process of AgTs, all of which vary by region. This indicates a need for a systematic and simultaneous understanding of sustainability, constraints for adoption, and scaling-up of AgTs to better guide agricultural strategy and policy interventions in SSA and Tanzania. Moreover, in order to understand the local settings better, a consideration of the perceptions of the farmers themselves, who are the primary actors in the uptake process of AgTs, is key. Acknowledging this, the study takes on a case study approach, using the scaling-up assessment (ScalA) method and three focus group discussions with a total of 44 smallholder farmers to systematically and simultaneously assess the sustainability, constraints for adoption, and scaling-up of three AgTs (use of fertilizers, improved seeds, and small-scale irrigation) in Tanzania. The study finds that the farmers perceive all three AgTs to be sustainable for the study region. Adoption rates are perceived to be medium for use of fertilizers, high for improved seeds, and low for small-scale irrigation. The most significant constraints for adoption experienced by the farmers are lack of technical physical inputs, marketing facilities, and know-how. Scaling-up is perceived to be well fulfilled for use of fertilizers and improved seeds, but only partially fulfilled for small-scale irrigation, which is the most limited of the three AgTs. The most significant constraints for scaling-up experienced by farmers are a lack of confidence in the added value of the AgTs beyond project activities, marketing facilities, and technical physical inputs. The overall success potential is high for the use of fertilizers and improved seeds, and the average for small-scale irrigation. The farmers’ perceptions partially indicate why the bundle of AgTs is lacking in the study region and provide a basis for discussing targeted agricultural and policy interventions in Tanzania.

Social tipping dynamics for stabilizing Earth's climate by 2050

Achieving a rapid global decarbonization to stabilize the climate critically depends on activating contagious and fast-spreading processes of social and technological change within the next few years. Drawing on expert elicitation, an expert workshop, and a review of literature, which provides a comprehensive analysis on this topic, we propose concrete interventions to induce positive social tipping dynamics and a rapid global transformation to carbon-neutral societies. These social tipping interventions comprise removing fossil-fuel subsidies and incentivizing decentralized energy generation, building carbon-neutral cities, divesting from assets linked to fossil fuels, revealing the moral implications of fossil fuels, strengthening climate education and engagement, and disclosing greenhouse gas emissions information.

Safely achieving the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement requires a worldwide transformation to carbon-neutral societies within the next 30 y. Accelerated technological progress and policy implementations are required to deliver emissions reductions at rates sufficiently fast to avoid crossing dangerous tipping points in the Earth’s climate system. Here, we discuss and evaluate the potential of social tipping interventions (STIs) that can activate contagious processes of rapidly spreading technologies, behaviors, social norms, and structural reorganization within their functional domains that we refer to as social tipping elements (STEs). STEs are subdomains of the planetary socioeconomic system where the required disruptive change may take place and lead to a sufficiently fast reduction in anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions. The results are based on online expert elicitation, a subsequent expert workshop, and a literature review. The STIs that could trigger the tipping of STE subsystems include 1) removing fossil-fuel subsidies and incentivizing decentralized energy generation (STE1, energy production and storage systems), 2) building carbon-neutral cities (STE2, human settlements), 3) divesting from assets linked to fossil fuels (STE3, financial markets), 4) revealing the moral implications of fossil fuels (STE4, norms and value systems), 5) strengthening climate education and engagement (STE5, education system), and 6) disclosing information on greenhouse gas emissions (STE6, information feedbacks). Our research reveals important areas of focus for larger-scale empirical and modeling efforts to better understand the potentials of harnessing social tipping dynamics for climate change mitigation.

Effect of the grain-growing purpose and farm size on the ability of stable land property rights to encourage farmers to apply organic fertilizers

The application of organic fertilizer by farmers is an important method for promoting the transition of agricultural production from increasing the yield to improving the quality and safety of agricultural products and realizing the green development of agriculture. The behavior of farmers can have a direct impact on organic fertilizer application, and the active participation of farmers can effectively reduce moral hazards and improve governance efficiency. A consensus appears to have been reached regarding the importance of land property rights stability (LPRS) for farmers' organic fertilizer application (FOFA) in China; however, few studies have focused on the conditions under which LPRS exerts an effect or the extent of the effect. Moreover, the grain-growing purpose and farm size are rarely included as driving factors underlying the impact of LPRS on FOFA; thus, biased estimations are easily formed. This study analyzed the influence mechanism of LPRS on FOFA and its dependent conditions using the 2017 China Rural Household Panel Survey from Zhejiang University and conducted an empirical analysis via a logit model. The results showed that LPRS could enable farmers to apply organic fertilizer, although the degree of its impact will vary due to differences in the grain-growing purpose and farm size. Currently, selling products is not conducive to the application of organic fertilizer and will reduce the positive impact of LPRS on the application of organic fertilizer by farmers, whereas expanding the farm size will enhance the positive impact of LPRS. The government should constantly improve the methods and channels for realizing high-quality and high-priced agricultural products and fully acknowledge the role of market demand in guiding farmers' agricultural production, which will increase their enthusiasm for organic fertilizer application. The government should also improve the contract management system for land transfer to strengthen the ability of farmers to expand their farm size to fully demonstrate the role of large-scale farmers.

The poverty impacts of improved cowpea varieties in Nigeria: A counterfactual analysis

Adoption of improved agricultural technologies has long been recognized as critical for reducing poverty through increased productivity, incomes, and asset accumulation. Using a nationally representative survey data from a sample of over 1500 households in Nigeria, this paper evaluates the impacts of adoption of improved cowpea varieties on income and asset poverty reduction using an endogenous switching regression model. The results showed that adoption of improved cowpea varieties increased per capita household income and asset ownership by 17 and 24 percentage points, respectively. The results based on the observed and counterfactual income and asset distributions further showed that adoption reduced both income poverty and asset poverty by 5 percentage points. The paper concludes with a discussion of the policy options for increasing adoption and impacts of improved cowpea varieties in Nigeria.

Gender differences in the adoption of agricultural technology: The case of improved maize varieties in southern Ethiopia

This study explores the role of gender-based decision-making in the adoption of improved maize varieties. The primary data were collected in 2018 from 560 farm households in Dawuro Zone, Ethiopia, and were comparatively analyzed across gender categories of households: male decision-making, female decision-making and joint decision-making, using a double-hurdle model. The results show that the intensity of improved maize varieties adopted on plots managed by male, female, and joint decision-making households are significantly different. This effect diminishes in the model when we take other factors into account. Using the gender of the heads of households and agricultural decision-maker, the current study did not find significant evidence of gender difference in the rate and intensity of adoption of improved maize varieties. The intensity of adoption of improved maize varieties is lower for female-headed households where decisions are made jointly by men and women, compared to the male-headed households where decisions are made jointly. As the economic status is a key driver of adoption of improved maize varieties, it is recommended that the policies and programs that aim at developing and disseminating quality maize seeds in southern Ethiopia should emphatically support economically less endowed but more gender egalitarian joint decision-making households, especially female-headed ones.

Fertilizer Use in China: The Role of Agricultural Support Policies

Using a decomposition method, this paper proposes an analytical framework to investigate the mechanisms by which agricultural support policies affect farmers’ use of fertilizers in agriculture in China. The mechanisms are decomposed into “three effects” (structural, scale, and technological effects). It is found that China’s agricultural support polices have significantly contributed to the increased use of agricultural fertilizers through encouraging farmers to bring more land under cultivation (the scale effect). Meanwhile, some policies have also helped reduce fertilizer consumption when farmers were motivated to increase the area of grains crops (the structural effect). The role of technological progress in affecting fertilizer consumption (the technological effect) appears to be minimal and uncertain. Compared to direct subsidies, indirect subsidies play a much greater role in affecting farmers’ production decision making and are more environmentally consequential. This paper argues that some of China’s agricultural support policies are not well aligned with one key objective of the country’s rural policies—improving environmental sustainability. It is recommended that the government takes measures to reform agricultural support policies and to reconcile agricultural and rural policies in order to achieve sustainable rural development.

The aggregate income losses from childhood stunting and the returns to a nutrition intervention aimed at reducing stunting

We undertake two calculations, one for all developing countries, the other for 34 developing countries that together account for 90% of the world's stunted children. The first asks how much lower a country's per capita income is today as a result of having a fraction of its workforce been stunted in childhood. We use a development accounting framework, relying on micro-econometric estimates of the effects of childhood stunting on adult wages through their effects on years of schooling, cognitive skills, and height, parsing out the relative contribution of each set of returns to avoid double counting. We estimate that, on average, the per capita income penalty from stunting is between 5-7%, depending on the assumption. In our second calculation we estimate the economic value and the costs associates with scaling up a package of nutrition interventions using the same methodology and set of assumptions used in the first calculation. We take a package of 10 nutrition interventions that has data on both effects and costs, and we estimate the rate-of-return to gradually introducing this program over a period of 10 years in 34 countries that together account for 90% of the world's stunted children. We estimate a rate-of-return of 12%, and a benefit-cost ratio of 5:1-6:1.

What explains low adoption of digital payment technologies? Evidence from small-scale merchants in Jaipur, India

The availability of digital payment technologies (such as internet banking, mobile money, and credit/debit cards) has rapidly increased in the developing world, and is a cornerstone for financial inclusion initiatives in developing countries. Despite significant efforts to promote digital payments, rates of adoption remain modest in some low-income countries. In particular, the rate of adoption in India remains low despite significant efforts to promote adoption. In this paper, we consider possible reasons for the low rates of adoption among merchants in Jaipur, India with small fixed-location store enterprises. Using survey data for 1,003 merchants, we find little evidence that supply-side barriers to obtaining necessary infrastructure or meeting prerequisite requirements to adopt digital payments explain the low level of adoption. Merchants are able to obtain infrastructure to transact digitally (such as bank accounts and smart phones), fees on digital platforms are affordable, and merchants are sufficiently literate to be able to use digital payment systems. We conclude that adoption is both feasible and inexpensive. Therefore, low rates of adoption do not appear to be the result of supply-side barriers, but due rather to demand-side factors or taxes. We find direct evidence of such demand-side factors, such as a perceived lack of customers wanting to pay digitally, and concerns that records of mobile payments might increase tax liability. Our results thus suggest that simply lowering the costs associated with adopting these technologies is unlikely to be successful in increasing adoption of digital payments.

Farmers' preferences for high-input agriculture supported by site-specific extension services: Evidence from a choice experiment in Nigeria

Agricultural extension to improve yields of staple food crops and close the yield gap in Sub-Saharan Africa often entails general recommendations on soil fertility management that are distributed to farmers in a large growing area. Site-specific extension recommendations that are better tailored to the needs of individual farmers and fields, and enabled by digital technologies, could potentially bring about yield and productivity improvements. In this paper, we analyze farmers' preferences for high-input maize production supported by site-specific nutrient management recommendations provided by an ICT-based extension tool that is being developed for extension services in the maize belt of Nigeria. We use a choice experiment to provide ex-ante insights on the adoption potentials of site-specific extension services from the perspective of farmers. We control for attribute non-attendance and account for class as well as scale heterogeneity in preferences using different models, and find robust results. We find that farmers have strong preferences to switch from general to ICT-enabled site-specific soil fertility management recommendations which lend credence to the inclusion of digital technologies in agricultural extension. We find heterogeneity in preferences that is correlated with farmers' resource endowments and access to services. A first group of farmers are strong potential adopters; they are better-off, less sensitive to risk, and are more willing to invest in a high-input maize production system. A second group of farmers are weak potential adopters; they have lower incomes and fewer productive assets, are more sensitive to yield variability, and prefer less capital and labor intensive production techniques. Our empirical findings imply that improving the design of extension tools to enable provision of information on the riskiness of expected outcomes and flexibility in switching between low-risk and high-risk recommendations will help farmers to make better informed decisions, and thereby improve the uptake of extension advice and the efficiency of extension programs.

Promoting rapid and sustained adoption of biofortified crops: What we learned from iron-biofortified bean delivery approaches in Rwanda

Micronutrient deficiencies, also known as hidden hunger, affect two billion people worldwide, curtailing their ability to lead healthy, productive lives. Biofortified staple crops, bred to be rich in micronutrient content, are a cost-effective and scalable solution to alleviating micronutrient deficiency, particularly among rural households who consume what they produce. Delivery of biofortified planting material in Rwanda began in 2012, and it is important to learn from the efforts undertaken to date to inform the design of higher impact - lower cost delivery strategies for scaling up these crops. In this paper, we use a nationally representative household survey of bean producers and delivery data from seven consecutive seasons and apply duration analysis to estimate the impact of different delivery approaches on household time to adoption, disadoption and readoption of iron-biofortified beans in Rwanda. Proximity to formal delivery via sales of small packets of planting material quickens adoption and readoption, while delivery of larger quantities of planting material to small-scale producers within a village slows disadoption of iron-biofortified beans. Informal dissemination within social networks and access to extension are also major drivers of rapid adoption. In addition, households whose main decision maker for bean production is a woman, has some formal education, and more years of experience growing beans disadopt iron-biofortified beans more slowly than other households. These findings provide evidence that current efforts to promote iron-biofortified crops have been successful and are expected to inform future development of sustainable and cost-effective delivery models for biofortified crops in Rwanda and elsewhere.