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Wait and sell: farmers' individual preferences and crop storage in Burkina Faso

Author

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  • Tristan Le Cotty

    (CIRED - centre international de recherche sur l'environnement et le développement - Cirad - Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - AgroParisTech - ENPC - École des Ponts ParisTech - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)

  • Elodie Maître d'Hôtel

    (UMR MOISA - Marchés, Organisations, Institutions et Stratégies d'Acteurs - Cirad - Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement - INRA - Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique - Montpellier SupAgro - Centre international d'études supérieures en sciences agronomiques - CIHEAM-IAMM - Centre International de Hautes Etudes Agronomiques Méditerranéennes - Institut Agronomique Méditerranéen de Montpellier - CIHEAM - Centre International de Hautes Études Agronomiques Méditerranéennes - Montpellier SupAgro - Institut national d’études supérieures agronomiques de Montpellier, Cirad - Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement)

  • Raphael Soubeyran

    (LAMETA - Laboratoire Montpelliérain d'Économie Théorique et Appliquée - UM1 - Université Montpellier 1 - UPVM - Université Paul-Valéry - Montpellier 3 - INRA - Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique - Montpellier SupAgro - Centre international d'études supérieures en sciences agronomiques - UM - Université de Montpellier - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - Montpellier SupAgro - Institut national d’études supérieures agronomiques de Montpellier)

  • Julie Subervie

    (LAMETA - Laboratoire Montpelliérain d'Économie Théorique et Appliquée - UM1 - Université Montpellier 1 - UPVM - Université Paul-Valéry - Montpellier 3 - INRA - Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique - Montpellier SupAgro - Centre international d'études supérieures en sciences agronomiques - UM - Université de Montpellier - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - Montpellier SupAgro - Institut national d’études supérieures agronomiques de Montpellier)

Abstract

This paper investigates the reasons why African farmers differ in storage behavior and estab- lishes a causal link between farmers' time and risk preferences and storage.We first provide a styl- ized onfarmstorage model inwhich impatience and risk aversion interact in the storage decision process. We show that impatience decreases grain storage whereas risk aversion may increase or decrease the quantity of grain stored from the harvest season to the lean season. We then test these propositions using original data on agricultural decisions, which we have collected from 1,500 farmers in two regions of Burkina Faso, who were also asked hypothetical questions about risk aversion and time discounting. Parameterized to our data, the model predicts that stored quantities decrease with impatience and increase with risk aversion. We then turn to an econo- metric analysis and provide an identification strategy which tackles a sample selection issue in our data. Consistently with the model, we find a negative impact of impatience and a positive impact of risk aversion on the storage level. The effects are statistically significant and robust to various measures of time and risk preferences. This paper provides one of the first set of field evi- dence that links risk aversion and time discounting to observed agricultural decisions.

Suggested Citation

  • Tristan Le Cotty & Elodie Maître d'Hôtel & Raphael Soubeyran & Julie Subervie, 2020. "Wait and sell: farmers' individual preferences and crop storage in Burkina Faso," CIRED Working Papers hal-01123355, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:ciredw:hal-01123355
    Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://hal.science/hal-01123355
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Marielle Brunette & Jonas Ngouhouo-Poufoun, 2021. "Are risk preferences consistent across elicitation procedures? A field experiment in Congo basin countries," Post-Print hal-03132834, HAL.

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