IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/elcore/v23y2023i2d10.1007_s10660-021-09481-0.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Smartphone-based information acquisition and wheat farm performance: insights from a doubly robust IPWRA estimator

Author

Listed:
  • Hongyun Zheng

    (Huazhong Agricultural University)

  • Wanglin Ma

    (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs
    Lincoln University)

Abstract

This study examines the impact of smartphone-based information acquisition on crop yields, net returns, return on investment (ROI), and production costs, using survey data collected from 558 wheat farmers in rural China. We employ a double-robust inverse probability weighted regression adjustment estimator to address the potential selection bias issue. The results reveal that information acquisition via smartphones significantly increases wheat yields, net returns, and ROI by 7%, 31%, and 39%, respectively, and it has a negative but insignificant impact on production costs. These results largely echo the results estimated from propensity score matching and endogenous switching regression models. In general, our findings suggest that policy interventions targeting to boost farm economic performance should consider distributing agricultural production and marketing information via smartphones.

Suggested Citation

  • Hongyun Zheng & Wanglin Ma, 2023. "Smartphone-based information acquisition and wheat farm performance: insights from a doubly robust IPWRA estimator," Electronic Commerce Research, Springer, vol. 23(2), pages 633-658, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:elcore:v:23:y:2023:i:2:d:10.1007_s10660-021-09481-0
    DOI: 10.1007/s10660-021-09481-0
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10660-021-09481-0
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10660-021-09481-0?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. World Bank, 2018. "Information and Communications for Development 2018," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 30437, December.
    2. Tambo, Justice A. & Mockshell, Jonathan, 2018. "Differential Impacts of Conservation Agriculture Technology Options on Household Income in Sub-Saharan Africa," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 151(C), pages 95-105.
    3. Haruna Sekabira & Matin Qaim, 2017. "Mobile money, agricultural marketing, and off-farm income in Uganda," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 48(5), pages 597-611, September.
    4. Wanglin Ma & Alan Renwick & Kathryn Bicknell, 2018. "Higher Intensity, Higher Profit? Empirical Evidence from Dairy Farming in New Zealand," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 69(3), pages 739-755, September.
    5. Cattaneo, Matias D., 2010. "Efficient semiparametric estimation of multi-valued treatment effects under ignorability," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 155(2), pages 138-154, April.
    6. Junpeng Li & Wanglin Ma & Alan Renwick & Hongyun Zheng, 2020. "The impact of access to irrigation on rural incomes and diversification: evidence from China," China Agricultural Economic Review, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 12(4), pages 705-725, September.
    7. Susan Wyche & Charles Steinfield, 2016. "Why Don't Farmers Use Cell Phones to Access Market Prices? Technology Affordances and Barriers to Market Information Services Adoption in Rural Kenya," Information Technology for Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 22(2), pages 320-333, April.
    8. Walker, Ian & Zhu, Yu, 2018. "University selectivity and the relative returns to higher education: Evidence from the UK," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 230-249.
    9. Bekele Shiferaw & Tewodros Kebede & Menale Kassie & Monica Fisher, 2015. "Market imperfections, access to information and technology adoption in Uganda: challenges of overcoming multiple constraints," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 46(4), pages 475-488, July.
    10. Eduardo Nakasone & Maximo Torero, 2016. "A text message away: ICTs as a tool to improve food security," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 47(S1), pages 49-59, November.
    11. Yakubu Abdul-Salam & Euan Phimister, 2017. "Efficiency Effects of Access to Information on Small-scale Agriculture: Empirical Evidence from Uganda using Stochastic Frontier and IRT Models," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 68(2), pages 494-517, June.
    12. Pratap S. Birthal & Shiv Kumar & Digvijay S. Negi & Devesh Roy, 2015. "The impacts of information on returns from farming: evidence from a nationally representative farm survey in India," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 46(4), pages 549-561, July.
    13. Adolwa, Ivan Solomon & Schwarze, Stefan & Buerkert, Andreas, 2019. "Impacts of integrated soil fertility management on yield and household income: The case of Tamale (Ghana) and Kakamega (Kenya)," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 161(C), pages 186-192.
    14. Tambo, J. & Mockshell, J., 2018. "Differential impacts of conservation agriculture technology options on household welfare in sub-Saharan Africa," 2018 Conference, July 28-August 2, 2018, Vancouver, British Columbia 277035, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    15. Matias D. Cattaneo, 2010. "multi-valued treatment effects," The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics,, Palgrave Macmillan.
    16. Haile, Mekbib G. & Wossen, Tesfamicheal & Kalkuhl, Matthias, 2019. "Access to information, price expectations and welfare: The role of mobile phone adoption in Ethiopia," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 145(C), pages 82-92.
    17. Kazushi Takahashi & Christopher B. Barrett, 2014. "The System of Rice Intensification and its Impacts on Household Income and Child Schooling: Evidence from Rural Indonesia," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 96(1), pages 269-289.
    18. Catherine Larochelle & Jeffrey Alwang & Elli Travis & Victor Hugo Barrera & Juan Manuel Dominguez Andrade, 2019. "Did You Really Get the Message? Using Text Reminders to Stimulate Adoption of Agricultural Technologies," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 55(4), pages 548-564, April.
    19. Bjorn Van Campenhout & David J. Spielman & Els Lecoutere, 2021. "Information and Communication Technologies to Provide Agricultural Advice to Smallholder Farmers: Experimental Evidence from Uganda," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 103(1), pages 317-337, January.
    20. Carrión-Yaguana, Vanessa D. & Alwang, Jeffrey & Barrera, Victor H., 2020. "Promoting Behavioral Change Using Text Messages: A Case Study of Blackberry Farmers in Ecuador," Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 52(3), pages 398-419, August.
    21. Lifang Zhang & Wen Fan, 2020. "Rural Homesteads Withdrawal and Urban Housing Market: A Pilot Study in China," Emerging Markets Finance and Trade, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 56(1), pages 228-242, January.
    22. Ogutu, Sylvester Ochieng & Okello, Julius Juma & Otieno, David Jakinda, 2014. "Impact of Information and Communication Technology-Based Market Information Services on Smallholder Farm Input Use and Productivity: The Case of Kenya," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 311-321.
    23. Hao, Jinghui & Bijman, Jos & Gardebroek, Cornelis & Heerink, Nico & Heijman, Wim & Huo, Xuexi, 2018. "Cooperative membership and farmers’ choice of marketing channels – Evidence from apple farmers in Shaanxi and Shandong Provinces, China," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 53-64.
    24. Wooldridge, Jeffrey M., 2007. "Inverse probability weighted estimation for general missing data problems," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 141(2), pages 1281-1301, December.
    25. Guido W. Imbens & Jeffrey M. Wooldridge, 2009. "Recent Developments in the Econometrics of Program Evaluation," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 47(1), pages 5-86, March.
    26. Qin Fan & Vania B. Salas Garcia, 2018. "Information Access and Smallholder Farmers’ Market Participation in Peru," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 69(2), pages 476-494, June.
    27. Jenny C. Aker & Ishita Ghosh & Jenna Burrell, 2016. "The promise (and pitfalls) of ICT for agriculture initiatives," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 47(S1), pages 35-48, November.
    28. Omulo, Godfrey & Kumeh, Eric Mensah, 2020. "Farmer-to-farmer digital network as a strategy to strengthen agricultural performance in Kenya: A research note on ‘Wefarm’ platform," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 158(C).
    29. Jeffrey M Wooldridge, 2010. "Econometric Analysis of Cross Section and Panel Data," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 2, volume 1, number 0262232588, December.
    30. Kiiza, Barnabas & Pederson, Glenn, 2012. "ICT-based market information and adoption of agricultural seed technologies: Insights from Uganda," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(4), pages 253-259.
    31. D'Amato, Alessio & Giaccherini, Matilde & Zoli, Mariangela, 2019. "The Role of Information Sources and Providers in Shaping Green Behaviors. Evidence from Europe," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 164(C), pages 1-1.
    32. Martey, Edward & Etwire, Prince M. & Kuwornu, John K.M., 2020. "Economic impacts of smallholder farmers’ adoption of drought-tolerant maize varieties," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    33. Manda, J. & Gardebroek, C. & Kuntashula, E. & Alene, A.D., 2018. "Impact of Improved Maize Varieties on Food Security in Eastern Zambia: a doubly robust analysis," 2018 Conference, July 28-August 2, 2018, Vancouver, British Columbia 277004, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    34. Wanglin Ma & R. Quentin Grafton & Alan Renwick, 2020. "Smartphone use and income growth in rural China: empirical results and policy implications," Electronic Commerce Research, Springer, vol. 20(4), pages 713-736, December.
    35. Kleemann, Linda & Abdulai, Awudu & Buss, Mareike, 2014. "Certification and Access to Export Markets: Adoption and Return on Investment of Organic-Certified Pineapple Farming in Ghana," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 79-92.
    36. Camacho, Adriana & Conover, Emily, 2019. "The impact of receiving SMS price and weather information on small scale farmers in Colombia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 123(C), pages 1-1.
    37. Hübler, Michael & Hartje, Rebecca, 2016. "Are smartphones smart for economic development?," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 141(C), pages 130-133.
    38. McAfee R. Preston, 1995. "Multiproduct Equilibrium Price Dispersion," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 67(1), pages 83-105, October.
    39. Yukichi Mano & Kazushi Takahashi & Keijiro Otsuka, 2020. "Mechanization in land preparation and agricultural intensification: The case of rice farming in the Cote d'Ivoire," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 51(6), pages 899-908, November.
    40. Mariscal Avilés, Judith & Benítez Larghi, Sebastián & Martínez Aguayo, María Angélica, 2016. "The informational life of the poor: A study of digital access in three Mexican towns," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 40(7), pages 661-672.
    41. Kirui, Oliver K. & Okello, Julius J. & Nyikal, Rose A. & Njiraini, Georgina W., 2013. "Impact of Mobile Phone-Based Money Transfer Services in Agriculture: Evidence from Kenya," Quarterly Journal of International Agriculture, Humboldt-Universitaat zu Berlin, vol. 52(2), pages 1-22, May.
    42. Chen-Nan Liao & Ying-Ju Chen & Christopher S. Tang, 2019. "Information Provision Policies for Improving Farmer Welfare in Developing Countries: Heterogeneous Farmers and Market Selection," Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, INFORMS, vol. 21(2), pages 254-270, May.
    43. Junpeng Li & Wanglin Ma & Alan Renwick & Hongyun Zheng, 2020. "The impact of access to irrigation on rural incomes and diversification: evidence from China," China Agricultural Economic Review, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 12(4), pages 705-725, September.
    44. Florian Diekmann & Cäzilia Loibl & Marvin T. Batte, 2009. "The Economics of Agricultural Information: Factors Affecting Commercial Farmers’ Information Strategies in Ohio," Review of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 31(4), pages 853-872.
    45. Nassul Ssentamu Kabunga & Thomas Dubois & Matin Qaim, 2012. "Heterogeneous information exposure and technology adoption: the case of tissue culture bananas in Kenya," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 43(5), pages 473-486, September.
    46. Wanglin Ma & Awudu Abdulai, 2017. "The economic impacts of agricultural cooperatives on smallholder farmers in rural China," Agribusiness, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 33(4), pages 537-551, September.
    47. Eduardo Nakasone & Maximo Torero & Bart Minten, 2014. "The Power of Information: The ICT Revolution in Agricultural Development," Annual Review of Resource Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 6(1), pages 533-550, October.
    48. Julius Manda & Cornelis Gardebroek & Elias Kuntashula & Arega D. Alene, 2018. "Impact of improved maize varieties on food security in Eastern Zambia: A doubly robust analysis," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(4), pages 1709-1728, November.
    49. Liu, Yuying & Renwick, Alan & Fu, Xinhong, 2019. "The role of agricultural cooperatives in serving as a marketing channel: evidence from low-income regions of Sichuan province in China," International Food and Agribusiness Management Review, International Food and Agribusiness Management Association, vol. 22(2).
    50. Imbens,Guido W. & Rubin,Donald B., 2015. "Causal Inference for Statistics, Social, and Biomedical Sciences," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521885881.
    51. Ma, Wanglin & Renwick, Alan & Nie, Peng & Tang, Jianjun & Cai, Rong, 2018. "Off-farm work, smartphone use and household income: Evidence from rural China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 80-94.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Hongyun Zheng & Wanglin Ma & Yanzhi Guo, 2023. "Does nutrition knowledge training improve dietary diversity and nutrition intake? Insights from rural China," Agribusiness, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 39(S1), pages 1417-1436, December.
    2. Zhu, Huanyu & Ma, Wanglin & Vatsa, Puneet & Zheng, Hongyun, 2023. "Clean energy use and subjective and objective health outcomes in rural China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 183(C).
    3. Wanglin Ma & Andy McKay & Dil B. Rahut & Tetsushi Sonobe, 2023. "An introduction to rural and agricultural development in the digital age," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(3), pages 1273-1286, August.
    4. Ni Zhuo & Baozhi Li & Qibiao Zhu & Chen Ji, 2023. "Smartphone‐based agricultural extension services and farm incomes: Evidence from Zhejiang Province in China," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(3), pages 1383-1402, August.

    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. Wanglin Ma & R. Quentin Grafton & Alan Renwick, 2020. "Smartphone use and income growth in rural China: empirical results and policy implications," Electronic Commerce Research, Springer, vol. 20(4), pages 713-736, December.
    2. Hongyun Zheng & Wanglin Ma & Yanzhi Guo, 2023. "Does nutrition knowledge training improve dietary diversity and nutrition intake? Insights from rural China," Agribusiness, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 39(S1), pages 1417-1436, December.
    3. Faruque As Sunny & Linlin Fu & Md Sadique Rahman & Zuhui Huang, 2022. "Determinants and Impact of Solar Irrigation Facility (SIF) Adoption: A Case Study in Northern Bangladesh," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(7), pages 1-17, March.
    4. Ni Zhuo & Baozhi Li & Qibiao Zhu & Chen Ji, 2023. "Smartphone‐based agricultural extension services and farm incomes: Evidence from Zhejiang Province in China," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(3), pages 1383-1402, August.
    5. Wanglin Ma & Xiaobing Wang, 2020. "Internet Use, Sustainable Agricultural Practices and Rural Incomes: Evidence from China," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 64(4), pages 1087-1112, October.
    6. Charles Yaw Okyere & Ama Asantewah Ahene-Codjoe, 2022. "Irrigated Agriculture and Welfare: Panel Data Evidence from Southern Ghana," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 34(2), pages 583-610, April.
    7. Wencong Lu & Kwabena Nyarko Addai & John N. Ng'ombe, 2021. "Impact of improved rice varieties on household food security in Northern Ghana: A doubly robust analysis," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 33(2), pages 342-359, March.
    8. Liu, Y., 2018. "Determinants and impacts of marketing channel choice among cooperatives members: Evidence from agricultural cooperative in China," 2018 Conference, July 28-August 2, 2018, Vancouver, British Columbia 275898, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    9. Yi Cai & Wene Qi & Famin Yi, 2023. "Smartphone use and willingness to adopt digital pest and disease management: Evidence from litchi growers in rural China," Agribusiness, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 39(1), pages 131-147, January.
    10. Martinson Ankrah Twumasi & Hongyun Zheng & Love Offeibea Asiedu-Ayeh & Anthony Siaw & Yuansheng Jiang, 2023. "Access to Financial Services and Its Impact on Household Income: Evidence from Rural Ghana," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 35(4), pages 869-890, August.
    11. Cai, Yi & Sun, Yucheng & Qi, Wene & Yi, Famin, 2022. "Impact of smartphone use on production outsourcing: evidence from litchi farming in southern China," International Food and Agribusiness Management Review, International Food and Agribusiness Management Association, vol. 25(4), September.
    12. Deng, Xin & Xu, Dingde & Zeng, Miao & Qi, Yanbin, 2019. "Does Internet use help reduce rural cropland abandonment? Evidence from China," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    13. Wanglin Ma & Puneet Vatsa & Hongyun Zheng & Emmanuel Donkor & Victor Owusu, 2023. "Does Adoption of Information and Communication Technology Reduce Objective and Subjective Well-Being Inequality? Evidence from China," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 169(1), pages 55-77, September.
    14. Okyere, Charles Yaw & Kornher, Lukas, 2023. "Carbon farming training and welfare: Evidence from Northern Ghana," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 134(C).
    15. Hörner, Denise & Wollni, Meike, 2021. "Integrated soil fertility management and household welfare in Ethiopia," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 100(C).
    16. Ma, W. & Grafton, Q. & Renwick, A., 2018. "Gender and Income Effects of Smartphone Use: The Case of Rural China," 2018 Conference, July 28-August 2, 2018, Vancouver, British Columbia 277310, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    17. Hongyun Zheng & Wanglin Ma & Gucheng Li, 2021. "Learning from neighboring farmers: Does spatial dependence affect adoption of drought‐tolerant wheat varieties in China?," Canadian Journal of Agricultural Economics/Revue canadienne d'agroeconomie, Canadian Agricultural Economics Society/Societe canadienne d'agroeconomie, vol. 69(4), pages 519-537, December.
    18. Zheng, Yanqiao & Zhang, Xiaoqi & Zhu, Yu, 2021. "Overeducation, major mismatch, and return to higher education tiers: Evidence from novel data source of a major online recruitment platform in China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    19. Graham, Bryan S. & Pinto, Cristine Campos de Xavier, 2022. "Semiparametrically efficient estimation of the average linear regression function," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 226(1), pages 115-138.
    20. Junpeng Li & Puneet Vatsa & Wanglin Ma, 2023. "Small Acts With Big Impacts: Does Garbage Classification Improve Subjective Well-Being in Rural China?," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 18(3), pages 1337-1363, June.

    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:spr:elcore:v:23:y:2023:i:2:d:10.1007_s10660-021-09481-0. 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    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.