Market Access, Trade Costs, and Technology Adoption: Evidence from Northern Tanzania

A-Tier
Journal: Review of Economics and Statistics
Year: 2024
Volume: 106
Issue: 6
Pages: 1511-1528

Authors (5)

Shilpa Aggarwal (not in RePEc) Brian Giera (not in RePEc) Dahyeon Jeong (not in RePEc) Jonathan Robinson (University of California-Santa...) Alan Spearot (not in RePEc)

Score contribution per author:

0.804 = (α=2.01 / 5 authors) × 2.0x A-tier

α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count

Abstract

We collect data on prices, travel costs, and farmer decisions to quantify market access for chemical fertilizer and its impact on agricultural productivity in 1,180 villages in Northern Tanzania. Villages at the bottom of the travel cost-adjusted input price distribution face 40%–55% less favorable prices than those at the top. A standard deviation increase in village-level remoteness is associated with 20%–25% lower input adoption. A spatial model of input adoption conservatively estimates that total trade costs are 4 times pecuniary travel costs. Counterfactuals suggest that halving travel costs would more than double adoption and reduce the adoption-remoteness gradient by 63%.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:tpr:restat:v:106:y:2024:i:6:p:1511-1528
Journal Field
General
Author Count
5
Added to Database
2026-01-29