IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jeborg/v191y2021icp1091-1111.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Nudges versus subsidies: Experimental evidence on the demand for a nutritious food in India

Author

Listed:
  • Dizon, Felipe
  • Yu, Jisang

Abstract

Among mothers in Bihar, India, we launched a marketing campaign of a fortified food product for children. All mothers were offered the product at varying prices, while half of the mothers were randomly assigned to receive a low-cost nudge which reframes information from a nutrition behavioral change program. Among mothers who received the program, the nudge increased demand, reducing price elasticity by 18%. We find no effect of the nudge among mothers who had not completed the program. The impact of the nudge on demand was larger at higher prices and was as high as the impact of a 26% price reduction. We do not find differential impacts of the nudge by female empowerment, child health, or quality of child diets.

Suggested Citation

  • Dizon, Felipe & Yu, Jisang, 2021. "Nudges versus subsidies: Experimental evidence on the demand for a nutritious food in India," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 191(C), pages 1091-1111.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jeborg:v:191:y:2021:i:c:p:1091-1111
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jebo.2021.08.017
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S016726812100353X
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jebo.2021.08.017?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Yoav Benjamini & Abba M. Krieger & Daniel Yekutieli, 2006. "Adaptive linear step-up procedures that control the false discovery rate," Biometrika, Biometrika Trust, vol. 93(3), pages 491-507, September.
    2. Anderson, Michael L, 2008. "Multiple Inference and Gender Differences in the Effects of Early Intervention: A Reevaluation of the Abecedarian, Perry Preschool, and Early Training Projects," Department of Agricultural & Resource Economics, UC Berkeley, Working Paper Series qt15n8j26f, Department of Agricultural & Resource Economics, UC Berkeley.
    3. Papke, Leslie E. & Wooldridge, Jeffrey M., 2005. "A computational trick for delta-method standard errors," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 86(3), pages 413-417, March.
    4. Meredith, Jennifer & Robinson, Jonathan & Walker, Sarah & Wydick, Bruce, 2013. "Keeping the doctor away: Experimental evidence on investment in preventative health products," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 196-210.
    5. Ashraf, Nava & Bandiera, Oriana & Lee, Scott S., 2014. "Awards unbundled: Evidence from a natural field experiment," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 100(C), pages 44-63.
    6. Atalay, Kadir & Bakhtiar, Fayzan & Cheung, Stephen & Slonim, Robert, 2014. "Savings and prize-linked savings accounts," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 107(PA), pages 86-106.
    7. Anderson, Michael L., 2008. "Multiple Inference and Gender Differences in the Effects of Early Intervention: A Reevaluation of the Abecedarian, Perry Preschool, and Early Training Projects," Journal of the American Statistical Association, American Statistical Association, vol. 103(484), pages 1481-1495.
    8. Kumar, Praduman & Kumar, Anjani & Parappurathu, Shinoj & Raju, S.S., 2011. "Estimation of Demand Elasticity for Food Commodities in India," Agricultural Economics Research Review, Agricultural Economics Research Association (India), vol. 24(1), June.
    9. Nava Ashraf & James Berry & Jesse M. Shapiro, 2010. "Can Higher Prices Stimulate Product Use? Evidence from a Field Experiment in Zambia," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 100(5), pages 2383-2413, December.
    10. Ashraf, Nava & Bandiera, Oriana & Jack, B. Kelsey, 2014. "No margin, no mission? A field experiment on incentives for public service delivery," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 120(C), pages 1-17.
    11. Felipe Dizon & Travis J. Lybbert, 2021. "Leveraging the Lottery for Financial Inclusion: Lotto-Linked Savings Accounts in Haiti," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 69(4), pages 1323-1349.
    12. Yang Wang & Frank A. Sloan, 2018. "Present bias and health," Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, Springer, vol. 57(2), pages 177-198, October.
    13. Laiou, Elpiniki & Rapti, Iro & Schwarzer, Ralf & Fleig, Lena & Cianferotti, Luisella & Ngo, Joy & Rizos, Evangelos C. & Wetle, Terrie Fox & Kahlmeier, Sonja & Vigilanza, Antonella & Tsilidis, Konstant, 2021. "Review: Nudge interventions to promote healthy diets and physical activity," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 102(C).
    14. Pascaline Dupas, 2011. "Health Behavior in Developing Countries," Annual Review of Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 3(1), pages 425-449, September.
    15. Romain Cadario & Pierre Chandon, 2020. "Which Healthy Eating Nudges Work Best? A Meta-Analysis of Field Experiments," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 39(3), pages 465-486, May.
    16. Lybbert, Travis J. & Vosti, Stephen A. & Adams, Katherine P. & Guissou, Rosemonde, 2018. "Household demand persistence for child micronutrient supplementation," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 147-164.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Czura, Kristina & Menzel, Andreas & Miotto, Martina, 2023. "Improved menstrual health and the workplace: an RCT with female Bangladeshi garment workers," CAGE Online Working Paper Series 653, Competitive Advantage in the Global Economy (CAGE).
    2. Pascaline Dupas & Edward Miguel, 2016. "Impacts and Determinants of Health Levels in Low-Income Countries," NBER Working Papers 22235, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Islam, Asad & Kusnadi, Gita & Rezki, Jahen & Sim, Armand & van Empel, Giovanni & Vlassopoulos, Michael & Zenou, Yves, 2023. "Addressing Vaccine Hesitancy Using Local Ambassadors: A Randomized Controlled Trial in Indonesia," IZA Discussion Papers 15899, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    4. Darin Christensen & Oeindrila Dube & Johannes Haushofer & Bilal Siddiqi & Maarten Voors, 2021. "Building Resilient Health Systems: Experimental Evidence from Sierra Leone and The 2014 Ebola Outbreak," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 136(2), pages 1145-1198.
    5. Anett John & Kate Orkin, 2022. "Can Simple Psychological Interventions Increase Preventive Health Investment?," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 20(3), pages 1001-1047.
    6. Aggarwal, Shilpa, 2021. "The long road to health: Healthcare utilization impacts of a road pavement policy in rural India," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 151(C).
    7. Olivia Bertelli & Fatou Fall, 2023. "Reaching out to socially distant trainees. Experimental evidence from variations on the standard farmer trainer system," Working Papers DT/2023/03, DIAL (Développement, Institutions et Mondialisation).
    8. Romain Gauriot Author e-mail: romain.gauriot@nyu.edu & Lionel Page Author e-mail: lionel.page@uts.edu.au, 2021. "How Market Prices React to Information: Evidence from Binary Options Markets," Working Papers 20200058, New York University Abu Dhabi, Department of Social Science, revised Oct 2021.
    9. Michael L. Anderson & Fangwen Lu, 2017. "Learning to Manage and Managing to Learn: The Effects of Student Leadership Service," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 63(10), pages 3246-3261, October.
    10. Banerjee, Abhijit & Barnhardt, Sharon & Duflo, Esther, 2018. "Can iron-fortified salt control anemia? Evidence from two experiments in rural Bihar," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 133(C), pages 127-146.
    11. Emilio Depetris-Chauvin & Ömer Özak, 2020. "The origins of the division of labor in pre-industrial times," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 25(3), pages 297-340, September.
    12. Fernández Guerrico, Sofía, 2021. "The effects of trade-induced worker displacement on health and mortality in Mexico," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    13. Daniel Bjorkegren & Joshua Blumenstock & Omowunmi Folajimi-Senjobi & Jacqueline Mauro & Suraj R. Nair, 2022. "Instant Loans Can Lift Subjective Well-Being: A Randomized Evaluation of Digital Credit in Nigeria," Papers 2202.13540, arXiv.org.
    14. Fitzsimons, Emla & Malde, Bansi & Mesnard, Alice & Vera-Hernández, Marcos, 2016. "Nutrition, information and household behavior: Experimental evidence from Malawi," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 122(C), pages 113-126.
    15. Cattaneo, Cristina & Grieco, Daniela, 2021. "Turning opposition into support to immigration: The role of narratives," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 190(C), pages 785-801.
    16. Miriam Bruhn & David McKenzie, 2019. "Can Grants to Consortia Spur Innovation and Science-Industry Collaboration? Regression- Discontinuity Evidence from Poland," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 33(3), pages 690-716.
    17. Heinrich, Carolyn J. & Knowles, Matthew T., 2020. "A fine predicament: Conditioning, compliance and consequences in a labeled cash transfer program," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 129(C).
    18. Islam, Asad & Kwon, Sungoh & Masood, Eema & Prakash, Nishith & Sabarwal, Shwetlena & Saraswat, Deepak, 2020. "When Goal-Setting Forges Ahead but Stops Short," GLO Discussion Paper Series 526, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    19. Derksen, Laura & Kerwin, Jason Theodore & Reynoso, Natalia Ordaz & Sterck, Olivier, 2021. "Appointments: A More Effective Commitment Device for Health Behaviors," SocArXiv y8gh7, Center for Open Science.
    20. Kunze, Lars & Suppa, Nicolai, 2017. "Bowling alone or bowling at all? The effect of unemployment on social participation," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 133(C), pages 213-235.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Nutrition; Food demand; Nudges; Behavioral change;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D12 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Consumer Economics: Empirical Analysis
    • D91 - Microeconomics - - Micro-Based Behavioral Economics - - - Role and Effects of Psychological, Emotional, Social, and Cognitive Factors on Decision Making
    • H42 - Public Economics - - Publicly Provided Goods - - - Publicly Provided Private Goods
    • O12 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Microeconomic Analyses of Economic Development

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:jeborg:v:191:y:2021:i:c:p:1091-1111. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/jebo .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.