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Communication and coordination: Experimental evidence from farmer groups in Senegal:

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  • Aflahagah, Fo Kodjo Dzinyefa
  • Bernard, Tanguy
  • Viceisza, Angelino

Abstract

Coordination failures are at the heart of development traps. Although communication can reduce such failures, to date experimental evidence has primarily been lab based. This paper studies the impact of communication in stag hunt coordination games played by members of Senegalese farmer groups—a setting where collective commercialization has suffered from coordination failure, as in many rural contexts. We find that communication increases coordination only in larger experimental groups, where it matters most from the standpoint of poverty traps. We also find that these effects are driven by communication’s impact on perceptions of strategic uncertainty. Some policy implications are discussed.

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  • Aflahagah, Fo Kodjo Dzinyefa & Bernard, Tanguy & Viceisza, Angelino, 2015. "Communication and coordination: Experimental evidence from farmer groups in Senegal:," IFPRI discussion papers 1450, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
  • Handle: RePEc:fpr:ifprid:1450
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    Cited by:

    1. Aflagah, Kodjo & Bernard, Tanguy & Viceisza, Angelino, 2022. "Cheap talk and coordination in the lab and in the field: Collective commercialization in Senegal," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 154(C).
    2. Jean-Philippe Berrou & François Combarnous & Thomas Eekhout, 2017. "Les TIC : une réponse au défi du développement des micro et petites entreprises informelles en Afrique sub-saharienne ?," Working Papers hal-02148324, HAL.

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    Keywords

    coordination; communication; cooperatives; field experimentation; development;
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