IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/fri/fribow/fribow00469.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Evaluating an information campaign about rural development policies in (FYR) Macedonia

Author

Listed:
  • Huber, Martin
  • Kotevska, Ana
  • Martinovska-Stojcheska, A.
  • Solovyeva, Anna

Abstract

This paper investigates the effects of an information campaign about a governmental rural development program (RDP) in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia on the farmers’ intention to participate in the RDP. In the course of a survey among farmers, the treatment group received an information brochure with relevant details on selected RDP measures, while the control group received no information. Even though the intervention had been planned as experiment, randomization was not properly conducted, requiring sample adjustments and controlling for observed covariates in the estimation process. The results suggest that while the intervention succeeded in informing farmers, it had a negative, albeit marginally statically significant, effect on farmers’ reported possibility and intention to use RDP support in the near future. Evidence from further outcome variables suggests that this may be due to the information about administrative burden associated with RDP participation provided in the brochure. We also find that the negative effect is driven by the subsample of unprofitable farmers.

Suggested Citation

  • Huber, Martin & Kotevska, Ana & Martinovska-Stojcheska, A. & Solovyeva, Anna, 2016. "Evaluating an information campaign about rural development policies in (FYR) Macedonia," FSES Working Papers 469, Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences, University of Freiburg/Fribourg Switzerland.
    • Handle: RePEc:fri:fribow:fribow00469
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://doc.rero.ch/record/259969/files/WP_SES_469.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ferraro, Paul J. & Miranda, Juan José, 2013. "Heterogeneous treatment effects and mechanisms in information-based environmental policies: Evidence from a large-scale field experiment," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 35(3), pages 356-379.
    2. Jeffrey B. Liebman & Erzo F. P. Luttmer, 2015. "Would People Behave Differently If They Better Understood Social Security? Evidence from a Field Experiment," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 7(1), pages 275-299, February.
    3. Hainmueller, Jens, 2012. "Entropy Balancing for Causal Effects: A Multivariate Reweighting Method to Produce Balanced Samples in Observational Studies," Political Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 20(1), pages 25-46, January.
    4. Emmanuel Saez, 2009. "Details Matter: The Impact of Presentation and Information on the Take-Up of Financial Incentives for Retirement Saving," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 1(1), pages 204-228, February.
    5. Gerlinde Fellner & Rupert Sausgruber & Christian Traxler, 2009. "Testing Enforcement Strategies in the Field: Legal Threat, Moral Appeal and Social Information," Discussion Paper Series of the Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods 2009_31, Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods.
    6. Esther Duflo & Emmanuel Saez, 2003. "The Role of Information and Social Interactions in Retirement Plan Decisions: Evidence from a Randomized Experiment," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 118(3), pages 815-842.
    7. Altmann, Steffen & Falk, Armin & Jäger, Simon & Zimmermann, Florian, 2018. "Learning about job search: A field experiment with job seekers in Germany," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 164(C), pages 33-49.
    8. Altmann, Steffen & Traxler, Christian, 2014. "Nudges at the dentist," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 19-38.
    9. Guido W. Imbens, 2004. "Nonparametric Estimation of Average Treatment Effects Under Exogeneity: A Review," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 86(1), pages 4-29, February.
    10. Raj Chetty & Emmanuel Saez, 2013. "Teaching the Tax Code: Earnings Responses to an Experiment with EITC Recipients," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 5(1), pages 1-31, January.
    11. Kožar, Maja & Pintar, Marjeta & Volk, Tina & Rednak, Miro & Rac, Ilona & Erjavec, Emil, 2016. "Agriculture and agricultural policy in Eastern European Neighbourhood," 155th Seminar, September 19-21, 2016, Kiev, Ukraine 245877, European Association of Agricultural Economists.
    12. Efthalia Dimara & Dimitris Skuras, 1999. "Importance and Need for Rural Development Instruments Under the CAP: A Survey of Farmers' Attitudes in Marginal Areas of Greece," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 50(2), pages 304-315, May.
    13. Feld, Sebastian & Frenzen, Heiko & Krafft, Manfred & Peters, Kay & Verhoef, Peter C., 2013. "The effects of mailing design characteristics on direct mail campaign performance," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 30(2), pages 143-159.
    14. Gerlinde Fellner & Rupert Sausgruber & Christian Traxler, 2013. "Testing Enforcement Strategies In The Field: Threat, Moral Appeal And Social Information," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 11(3), pages 634-660, June.
    15. Denisova-Schmidt, Elena & Huber, Martin & Prytula, Yaroslav, 2015. "An experimental evaluation of an anti-corruption intervention among Ukrainian university students," FSES Working Papers 462, Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences, University of Freiburg/Fribourg Switzerland.
    16. Benders, Rene M.J. & Kok, Rixt & Moll, Henri C. & Wiersma, Gerwin & Noorman, Klaas Jan, 2006. "New approaches for household energy conservation--In search of personal household energy budgets and energy reduction options," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(18), pages 3612-3622, December.
    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. Huber, Martin & Camponovo, Lorenzo & Bodory, Hugo & Lechner, Michael, 2016. "A wild bootstrap algorithm for propensity score matching estimators," FSES Working Papers 470, Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences, University of Freiburg/Fribourg Switzerland.

    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. Altmann, Steffen & Falk, Armin & Jäger, Simon & Zimmermann, Florian, 2018. "Learning about job search: A field experiment with job seekers in Germany," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 164(C), pages 33-49.
    2. C. Yiwei Zhang & Jeffrey Hemmeter & Judd B. Kessler & Robert D. Metcalfe & Robert Weathers, 2023. "Nudging Timely Wage Reporting: Field Experimental Evidence from the U.S. Supplemental Security Income Program," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 69(3), pages 1341-1353, March.
    3. Sylvain Chareyron & David Gray & Yannick L’Horty, 2018. "Raising Take-Up of Social Assistance Benefits through a Simple Mailing: Evidence from a French Field Experiment," Revue d'économie politique, Dalloz, vol. 128(5), pages 777-805.
    4. Hallsworth, Michael & List, John A. & Metcalfe, Robert D. & Vlaev, Ivo, 2017. "The behavioralist as tax collector: Using natural field experiments to enhance tax compliance," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 148(C), pages 14-31.
    5. Stephan, Gesine & van den Berg, Gerard & Homrighausen, Pia, 2016. "Randomizing information on a targeted wage support program for older workers: A field experiment," VfS Annual Conference 2016 (Augsburg): Demographic Change 145487, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    6. Landeghem, Bert Van & Cörvers, Frank & Grip, Andries de, 2017. "Is there a rationale to contact the unemployed right from the start? Evidence from a natural field experiment," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 158-168.
    7. Altmann, Steffen & Cairo, Sofie & Mahlstedt, Robert & Sebald, Alexander, 2022. "Do Job Seekers Understand the UI Benefit System (And Does It Matter)?," IZA Discussion Papers 15747, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    8. Sylvain Chareyron, 2016. "Le non-recours aux aides sociales sous conditions de ressources," Erudite Ph.D Dissertations, Erudite, number ph16-01 edited by Yannick L'Horty & François Legendre, February.
    9. Cairo, Sofie & Mahlstedt, Robert, 2021. "Transparency of the Welfare System and Labor Market Outcomes of Unemployed Workers," IZA Discussion Papers 14940, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    10. Ingar Haaland & Christopher Roth & Johannes Wohlfart, 2023. "Designing Information Provision Experiments," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 61(1), pages 3-40, March.
    11. Jan-Emmanuel De Neve & Clément Imbert & Johannes Spinnewijn & Teodora Tsankova & Maarten Luts, 2021. "How to Improve Tax Compliance? Evidence from Population-Wide Experiments in Belgium," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 129(5), pages 1425-1463.
    12. Andrea Szabo & Gergely Ujhelyi, 2014. "Can Information Reduce Nonpayment for Public Utilities? Experimental Evidence from South Africa," Working Papers 2014-114-31, Department of Economics, University of Houston.
    13. Ha Trong Nguyen & Huong Thu Le & Luke B Connelly, 2021. "Who's declining the “free lunch”? New evidence from the uptake of public child dental benefits," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(2), pages 270-288, February.
    14. Jonas Hjort & Diana Moreira & Gautam Rao & Juan Francisco Santini, 2021. "How Research Affects Policy: Experimental Evidence from 2,150 Brazilian Municipalities," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 111(5), pages 1442-1480, May.
    15. Vesal, Mohammad, 2014. "Optimization Frictions in the Choice of UK Flat Rate Scheme of VAT," MPRA Paper 101017, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    16. Szabó, Andrea & Ujhelyi, Gergely, 2015. "Reducing nonpayment for public utilities: Experimental evidence from South Africa," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 117(C), pages 20-31.
    17. Altmann, Steffen & Grunewald, Andreas & Radbruch, Jonas, 2019. "Passive Choices and Cognitive Spillovers," IZA Discussion Papers 12337, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    18. Mathieu Lefebvre & Pierre Pestieau & Arno Riedl & Marie Villeval, 2015. "Tax evasion and social information: an experiment in Belgium, France, and the Netherlands," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 22(3), pages 401-425, June.
    19. Thomas F. Crossley & Jochem Bresser & Liam Delaney & Joachim Winter, 2017. "Can Survey Participation Alter Household Saving Behaviour?," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 127(606), pages 2332-2357, November.
    20. Felix Koelle & Tom Lane & Daniele Nosenzo & Chris Starmer, 2017. "Nudging the electorate: what works and why?," Discussion Papers 2017-16, The Centre for Decision Research and Experimental Economics, School of Economics, University of Nottingham.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    information provision; rural development; FYR Macedonia; field experiment; treatment effects;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • Q28 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Renewable Resources and Conservation - - - Government Policy

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:fri:fribow:fribow00469. 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: Mustapha Obbad (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/wsffrch.html .

    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.