Does experience sharing affect farmers' pro-environmental behavior? A randomized controlled trial in Vietnam. (December 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Vu, Ha Thu; Tran, Duc; Goto, Daisaku; Kawata, Keisuke
• Is Part Of: World development. Volume 136(2020)
• Publication Date: 2020-12
• Subjects: RCT -- Information treatment -- Subsidy treatment -- Pro-environmental behaviors -- Asia -- Vietnam; Economic history -- 1990- -- Periodicals; Economic assistance -- Developing countries -- Periodicals; 330.9
• DOI: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2020.105062
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0305-750X

Abstract

Highlights: We examine the effect of an information treatment via "peer farmers" and a 50% price subsidy treatment on organic fertilizer adoption. We conduct a randomized controlled trial with 1287 tea-cultivating farmers in Vietnam. Both treatments have significant impacts on farmers' adoption of organic fertilizer. The information treatment is approximately one-third as effective as the subsidy treatment. The information treatment performs well for members of certification groups. Abstract: Encouraging farmers to adopt pro-environmental production is vital to the promotion of sustainable agriculture. Previous observational studies emphasize the importance of economic incentives and information access to farmers' decision-making processes; however, due to endogeneity issues, little strong causal evidence is available. This study makes an original contribution by experimentally examining the impacts of the 50% price subsidy and information treatments on farmers' adoption of organic fertilizer. A short video sharing the experience of farmers who have applied organic fertilizer is selected as our information treatment. We analyze data from a randomized controlled trial (RCT) conducted with 1287 small-scale tea farmers in Vietnam. We find significant impacts of both the information and 50% price subsidy treatments. Moreover, the effect of the former is approximately one-third that of the latter. Subgroup treatment analysis also reveals that the information treatment performs well for members of certification groups. Thus, to induce farmers to adopt pro-environmental production behaviors, information treatment can partially substitute for subsidies to reduce the burden on the public budget.