The Impact of Mobile Phone Coverage Expansion on Market Participation: Panel Data Evidence from Uganda

B-Tier
Journal: World Development
Year: 2009
Volume: 37
Issue: 12
Pages: 1887-1896

Authors (2)

Muto, Megumi (not in RePEc) Yamano, Takashi (Asian Development Bank)

Score contribution per author:

1.005 = (α=2.01 / 2 authors) × 1.0x B-tier

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

Abstract

Summary An increased information flow due to mobile phone network expansions is expected to reduce marketing costs of agricultural commodities. We investigate this using panel data of 856 Ugandan households in 94 communities, where the number of communities covered by mobile phone networks increased from 41 to 87 between surveys in 2003 and 2005, respectively. After the expansion of coverage, we find increased sales of banana in remote communities but not of maize. The mobile phone coverage expansion seems to induce the market participation of farmers in remote areas who produce perishable crops.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:eee:wdevel:v:37:y:2009:i:12:p:1887-1896
Journal Field
Development
Author Count
2
Added to Database
2026-01-29