Agricultural Technology Choice and Transport

This paper addresses an old and recurring theme in development economics: the slow adoption of new technologies by farmers in many developing countries. The paper explores a somewhat novel link to explain this puzzle -- the link between market access and the incentives to adopt a new technology when there are non-convexities. The paper develops a theoretical model to guide the empirical analysis, which uses spatially disaggregated agricultural production data from Spatial Production Allocation Model and Living Standards Measurement Study survey data for Nigeria. The model is used to estimate the impact of transport costs on crop production, the adoption of modern technologies, and the differential impact on returns of modern versus traditional farmers. To overcome the limitation of data availability on travel costs for much of Africa, road survey data are combined with geographic information road network data to generate the most thorough and accurate road network available. With these data and the Highway Development Management Model, minimum travel costs from each location to the market are computed. Consistent with the theory, analysis finds that transportation costs are critical in determining technology choices, with a greater responsiveness among farmers who adopt modern technologies, and at times a perverse (negative) response to lower transport costs among those who employ more traditional techniques. In sum, the paper presents compelling evidence that the constraints to the adoption of modern technologies and access to markets are interconnected, and so should be targeted jointly.

Bibliographic Details

Main Authors:	Ali, Rubaba, Barra, A. Federico, Berg, Claudia N., Damania, Richard, Nash, John D., Russ, Jason
Format:	Working Paper biblioteca
Language:	English en_US
Published:	World Bank, Washington, DC 2015-05
Subjects:	LIVING STANDARDS, TRADITIONAL TECHNOLOGY, PURCHASE PRICE, COSTS OF TRAVEL, PRICE OF FUEL, PRODUCTION, INCOME, VEHICLE SPEED, TRANSPORT INFRASTRUCTURE, TRANSPORTATION COSTS, FREIGHT TRANSPORT, ELASTICITY OF DEMAND, INFORMATION, LIQUIDITY, ELASTICITY, POLITICAL ECONOMY, WELFARE, INCENTIVES, DIMINISHING RETURNS, TRAVEL SPEED, VARIABLES, MODELS, SYSTEM, IMPACT OF TRANSPORT COSTS, HIGHWAY SYSTEM, TAX, INPUTS, CITIES, DECISIONS, GROSS VEHICLE WEIGHT, RETURNS TO SCALE, WEALTH, CODES, AGRICULTURAL OUTPUT, TRANSPORTATION INFRASTRUCTURE, TRENDS, ROAD TYPE, LITERACY, PRICE INCENTIVES, INCREASING RETURNS TO SCALE, KNOWLEDGE, TRAVEL COSTS, DEVELOPMENT, NEW TECHNOLOGIES, CHOICE, VEHICLE, DATA, INFLUENCE, TOTAL FACTOR PRODUCTIVITY, ROAD, DIGITAL, COSTS, TRANSPORTATION NETWORK, DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS, ROAD NETWORK, TRANSPORT, IMPACT OF TRANSPORT, FIXED COSTS, PRODUCTIVITY, EXTERNALITIES, INDUSTRIALIZATION, FAILURES, INCREASING RETURNS, MARKETS, CONNECTIVITY, COSTS PER VEHICLE, LEARNING, PIXELS, CULTURAL CHANGE, RESEARCH, TRAVEL TIMES, UTILITY, ROUTE, ROAD QUALITY, INFRASTRUCTURE, TECHNOLOGY, PRODUCTIVITY GROWTH, HUMAN CAPITAL, TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGE, RADAR, TRAVEL, TRANSPORTATION, WAGES, POLICIES, ECONOMIC OUTCOMES, BASIC, PARTICIPATION, VALUE, PRODUCTION FUNCTIONS, ELASTICITIES, CREDIT, ALTERNATIVE TECHNOLOGIES, ACCESSIBILITY, SYSTEMS, RURAL INFRASTRUCTURE, UTILITY FUNCTION, AGRICULTURE, DECISION MAKING, MEASUREMENT, UNDERDEVELOPMENT, ENDOGENOUS VARIABLES, POLICY, PRODUCTION FUNCTION, ROADS, FUNCTIONAL FORMS, WALKING, HIGHWAY, TRADE, RAILROAD, VEHICLE COST, GOODS, THEORY, TRANSPORTATION COST, INVESTMENT, COMPARATIVE ADVANTAGE, TRANSACTIONS COSTS, FUEL, COMPETITIVE MARKETS, REVENUE, INVESTMENTS, IT, NEW TECHNOLOGY, AT, PEDESTRIANS, ECONOMIC GEOGRAPHY, TRANSPORT COSTS, TECHNOLOGIES, OUTCOMES, TRAVEL TIME, FUEL COST, FREIGHT, ATTRIBUTES, INNOVATIONS, ENGINEERS, DEVELOPMENT POLICY,
Online Access:	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2015/05/24498115/agricultural-technology-choice-transport http://hdl.handle.net/10986/22003
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