IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/rdevec/v30y2026i1p226-236.html

Network Effects in Household Consumption Patterns: Evidence From Northern Ghana

Author

Listed:
  • Shaibu Mellon Bedi
  • Lukas Kornher
  • Bekele Hundie Kotu
  • Carlo Azzarri

Abstract

We study peer effects in consumption patterns and their associated welfare implications among rural farm households in northern Ghana using a panel data set. We construct a social interaction network based on household‐specific locations and employ a spatial econometric approach that leverages the structure of the peer networks to identify peer effects. The results indicate that peers' consumption patterns significantly influence individual consumption decisions, with the magnitude of this effect varying across farm households depending on their resource endowments. We also find that information exchange and partial risk‐sharing behaviors drive these peer effects. Overall, our findings suggest that government interventions aimed at enhancing household consumption through transfers would be more effective if targeted at households with relatively large peer networks. In addition, anti‐poverty and income‐improvement programs can leverage peer networks to enhance their overall impact.

Suggested Citation

  • Shaibu Mellon Bedi & Lukas Kornher & Bekele Hundie Kotu & Carlo Azzarri, 2026. "Network Effects in Household Consumption Patterns: Evidence From Northern Ghana," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(1), pages 226-236, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:rdevec:v:30:y:2026:i:1:p:226-236
    DOI: 10.1111/rode.13266
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/rode.13266
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/rode.13266?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
    ---><---

    More about this item

    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:bla:rdevec:v:30:y:2026:i:1:p:226-236. 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.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using 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: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=1363-6669 .

    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.