Social interaction and technology adoption: Experimental evidence from improved cookstoves in Mali

Jacopo Bonan; Pietro Battiston; Jaimie Bleck; Philippe LeMay-Boucher; Stefano Pareglio; Bassirou Sarr; Massimo Tavoni

doi:10.1016/j.worlddev.2021.105467

Social interaction and technology adoption: Experimental evidence from improved cookstoves in Mali

Jacopo Bonan, Pietro Battiston, Jaimie Bleck, Philippe LeMay-Boucher, Stefano Pareglio, Bassirou Sarr, Massimo Tavoni

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Abstract

Easy-to-use and low-risk technologies, which require little investment and potentially provide health and environmental benefits, often have low adoption rates. Using a randomized experiment in urban Mali, we assess the impact of a training session in which information on an improved cookstove (ICS) is provided along with the opportunity to purchase the product at the market price. We find strong effects from our invitation to the session on ICS ownership and usage while no discernible effects on product knowledge or household welfare. We find that some diffusion occurs beyond the intervention and provide evidence on the role of social interaction, mostly through imitation.

Original language	English
Article number	105467
Journal	World Development
Volume	144
Early online date	9 Apr 2021
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2021.105467
Publication status	Published - Aug 2021

Keywords

Cookstoves
Imitation effects
Mali
Social Interaction
Technology adoption

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Geography, Planning and Development
Development
Sociology and Political Science
Economics and Econometrics

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10.1016/j.worlddev.2021.105467

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title = "Social interaction and technology adoption: Experimental evidence from improved cookstoves in Mali",

abstract = "Easy-to-use and low-risk technologies, which require little investment and potentially provide health and environmental benefits, often have low adoption rates. Using a randomized experiment in urban Mali, we assess the impact of a training session in which information on an improved cookstove (ICS) is provided along with the opportunity to purchase the product at the market price. We find strong effects from our invitation to the session on ICS ownership and usage while no discernible effects on product knowledge or household welfare. We find that some diffusion occurs beyond the intervention and provide evidence on the role of social interaction, mostly through imitation.",

keywords = "Cookstoves, Imitation effects, Mali, Social Interaction, Technology adoption",

author = "Jacopo Bonan and Pietro Battiston and Jaimie Bleck and Philippe LeMay-Boucher and Stefano Pareglio and Bassirou Sarr and Massimo Tavoni",

note = "Funding Information: This study was funded by Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei , Italy, Fondazione Giangiacomo Feltrinelli, Italy, and the Scottish Institute for Research in Economics, United Kingdom. Bonan and Tavoni acknowledge financial support from the ERC under the European Union{\textquoteright}s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013)/ERC grant 342 agreement no. 336155 - project COBHAM “The role of consumer behavior and heterogeneity in the integrated assessment of energy and climate policies.” We thank Baptiste Flipo and Anne Calvel from GERES. We are thankful to Yonas Alem, Francesco Amodio, Erwin Bulte, Giovanna D'Adda, Tim Elliott, Ning Liu, Annemie Maertens, Rohini Pande, Jorg Peters, Laura Schechter, Alessandro Tarozzi, and the seminar participants at the Aix-Marseille School of Economics and CERDI Clermont-Ferrand. Excellent research assistance was provided by Giulia Bonan, Lala Walet, and Youssouf Konde. IRB approval was obtained from the School of Sciences Ethics Officer, Heriot-Watt University , United Kingdom. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2021 Elsevier Ltd Copyright: Copyright 2021 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.",

year = "2021",

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doi = "10.1016/j.worlddev.2021.105467",

language = "English",

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journal = "World Development",

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AU - Bonan, Jacopo

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AU - Pareglio, Stefano

AU - Sarr, Bassirou

AU - Tavoni, Massimo

N1 - Funding Information: This study was funded by Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei , Italy, Fondazione Giangiacomo Feltrinelli, Italy, and the Scottish Institute for Research in Economics, United Kingdom. Bonan and Tavoni acknowledge financial support from the ERC under the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013)/ERC grant 342 agreement no. 336155 - project COBHAM “The role of consumer behavior and heterogeneity in the integrated assessment of energy and climate policies.” We thank Baptiste Flipo and Anne Calvel from GERES. We are thankful to Yonas Alem, Francesco Amodio, Erwin Bulte, Giovanna D'Adda, Tim Elliott, Ning Liu, Annemie Maertens, Rohini Pande, Jorg Peters, Laura Schechter, Alessandro Tarozzi, and the seminar participants at the Aix-Marseille School of Economics and CERDI Clermont-Ferrand. Excellent research assistance was provided by Giulia Bonan, Lala Walet, and Youssouf Konde. IRB approval was obtained from the School of Sciences Ethics Officer, Heriot-Watt University , United Kingdom. Publisher Copyright: © 2021 Elsevier Ltd Copyright: Copyright 2021 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.

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Social interaction and technology adoption: Experimental evidence from improved cookstoves in Mali

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Philippe LeMay-Boucher

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Social interaction and technology adoption: Experimental evidence from improved cookstoves in Mali

Abstract

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

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Philippe LeMay-Boucher

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