Domestic credit and the balance of payments in Ghana: A comment |
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| Authors: | Catherine Larochelle Jeffrey Alwang Elli Travis Victor Hugo Barrera Juan Manuel Dominguez Andrade |
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| Institution: | 1. Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, USA;2. The Office of Economic Development, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, USA;3. Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones Agropecuaria, Quito, Ecuador |
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| Abstract: | This article provides evidence from a randomised control trial conducted among potato farmers in Ecuador about the impact of mobile phone text messages on farmer knowledge about and adoption of integrated pest management (IPM) practices. Using psychological constructs, we examine competing explanations for non-standard decision-making leading to low adoption of beneficial agricultural technologies. Farmers who received text messages have significantly higher knowledge and are more likely to adopt most IPM practices than those in the control group. Findings provide evidence that text messages lead to behavioural changes by reducing inattention and sub-optimal heuristics in the face of complex decisions. |
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