Locus of Control and Technology Adoption in Developing Country Agriculture: Evidence from Ethiopia

Publikation: Bidrag til tidsskriftTidsskriftartikelfagfællebedømt

Standard

Locus of Control and Technology Adoption in Developing Country Agriculture : Evidence from Ethiopia. / Abay, Kibrom Araya; Blalock, Garrick; Berhane, Guush .

I: Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Bind 143, 2017, s. 98-115.

Publikation: Bidrag til tidsskriftTidsskriftartikelfagfællebedømt

Harvard

Abay, KA, Blalock, G & Berhane, G 2017, 'Locus of Control and Technology Adoption in Developing Country Agriculture: Evidence from Ethiopia', Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, bind 143, s. 98-115. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jebo.2017.09.012

APA

Abay, K. A., Blalock, G., & Berhane, G. (2017). Locus of Control and Technology Adoption in Developing Country Agriculture: Evidence from Ethiopia. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 143, 98-115. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jebo.2017.09.012

Vancouver

Abay KA, Blalock G, Berhane G. Locus of Control and Technology Adoption in Developing Country Agriculture: Evidence from Ethiopia. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization. 2017;143:98-115. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jebo.2017.09.012

Author

Abay, Kibrom Araya ; Blalock, Garrick ; Berhane, Guush . / Locus of Control and Technology Adoption in Developing Country Agriculture : Evidence from Ethiopia. I: Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization. 2017 ; Bind 143. s. 98-115.

Bibtex

@article{88e8871573ce4eabb41a27f77c18fb82,
title = "Locus of Control and Technology Adoption in Developing Country Agriculture: Evidence from Ethiopia",
abstract = "We investigate the implication of farmers{\textquoteright} locus of control on their technology adoption decisions. Our empirical analysis is based on two longitudinal surveys and hypothetical choice exercises conducted on Ethiopian farmers. We find that locus of control significantly predicts farmers{\textquoteright} technology adoption decisions, including use of chemical fertilizers, improved seeds, and irrigation. We show that individuals with an internal locus of control have higher propensity of adopting agricultural technologies. We observe these empirical regularities in both datasets, and for both revealed measures of farmers{\textquoteright} technology adoption decisions as well as farmers{\textquoteright} hypothetical demand for agricultural technology. The results hold even in a more conservative fixed effects estimation approach, assuming locus of control as time-variant and dynamic behavioral trait. These findings provide behavioral and psychological explanations for the low rates of adoption of profitable agricultural technologies in Sub-Saharan Africa. Our results highlight that improving farmers{\textquoteright} non-cognitive skills (locus of control) may facilitate technology adoption and agricultural transformation. More generally, the results suggest that anti-poverty policies that only focus on relaxing short-term external constraints, including physical access to markets and technologies, may not sufficiently alleviate agricultural underinvestment.",
keywords = "Faculty of Social Sciences, Locus of control, Internal constraints, Behavioral biases, Technology adoption, Agricultural investment, Chemical fertilizers",
author = "Abay, {Kibrom Araya} and Garrick Blalock and Guush Berhane",
year = "2017",
doi = "10.1016/j.jebo.2017.09.012",
language = "English",
volume = "143",
pages = "98--115",
journal = "Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization",
issn = "0167-2681",
publisher = "Elsevier",

}

RIS

TY - JOUR

T1 - Locus of Control and Technology Adoption in Developing Country Agriculture

T2 - Evidence from Ethiopia

AU - Abay, Kibrom Araya

AU - Blalock, Garrick

AU - Berhane, Guush

PY - 2017

Y1 - 2017

N2 - We investigate the implication of farmers’ locus of control on their technology adoption decisions. Our empirical analysis is based on two longitudinal surveys and hypothetical choice exercises conducted on Ethiopian farmers. We find that locus of control significantly predicts farmers’ technology adoption decisions, including use of chemical fertilizers, improved seeds, and irrigation. We show that individuals with an internal locus of control have higher propensity of adopting agricultural technologies. We observe these empirical regularities in both datasets, and for both revealed measures of farmers’ technology adoption decisions as well as farmers’ hypothetical demand for agricultural technology. The results hold even in a more conservative fixed effects estimation approach, assuming locus of control as time-variant and dynamic behavioral trait. These findings provide behavioral and psychological explanations for the low rates of adoption of profitable agricultural technologies in Sub-Saharan Africa. Our results highlight that improving farmers’ non-cognitive skills (locus of control) may facilitate technology adoption and agricultural transformation. More generally, the results suggest that anti-poverty policies that only focus on relaxing short-term external constraints, including physical access to markets and technologies, may not sufficiently alleviate agricultural underinvestment.

AB - We investigate the implication of farmers’ locus of control on their technology adoption decisions. Our empirical analysis is based on two longitudinal surveys and hypothetical choice exercises conducted on Ethiopian farmers. We find that locus of control significantly predicts farmers’ technology adoption decisions, including use of chemical fertilizers, improved seeds, and irrigation. We show that individuals with an internal locus of control have higher propensity of adopting agricultural technologies. We observe these empirical regularities in both datasets, and for both revealed measures of farmers’ technology adoption decisions as well as farmers’ hypothetical demand for agricultural technology. The results hold even in a more conservative fixed effects estimation approach, assuming locus of control as time-variant and dynamic behavioral trait. These findings provide behavioral and psychological explanations for the low rates of adoption of profitable agricultural technologies in Sub-Saharan Africa. Our results highlight that improving farmers’ non-cognitive skills (locus of control) may facilitate technology adoption and agricultural transformation. More generally, the results suggest that anti-poverty policies that only focus on relaxing short-term external constraints, including physical access to markets and technologies, may not sufficiently alleviate agricultural underinvestment.

KW - Faculty of Social Sciences

KW - Locus of control

KW - Internal constraints

KW - Behavioral biases

KW - Technology adoption

KW - Agricultural investment

KW - Chemical fertilizers

U2 - 10.1016/j.jebo.2017.09.012

DO - 10.1016/j.jebo.2017.09.012

M3 - Journal article

VL - 143

SP - 98

EP - 115

JO - Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization

JF - Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization

SN - 0167-2681

ER -

ID: 184109431