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Identity, Interest and Information Search in a Dynamic Rural Economy

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Listed author(s):
  • Santos, Paulo
  • Barrett, Christopher B.

Abstract

Summary This paper examines how farmers in a developing country search for information. Using data on farmers' decisions to connect with other farmers in order to ask for information about different agricultural problems, we explore the role played by identity in accessing information. We show that farmers target different subsets of acquaintances when searching for different types of information, supporting the view that identity cannot be the main determinant of such decisions.

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File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305-750X(10)00090-2
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Article provided by Elsevier in its journal World Development.

Volume (Year): 38 (2010)
Issue (Month): 12 (December)
Pages: 1788-1796

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Handle: RePEc:eee:wdevel:v:38:y:2010:i:12:p:1788-1796
Contact details of provider: Web page: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/worlddev

Keywords: Africa Ghana identity social networks;

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  1. Durlauf, Steven N. & Fafchamps, Marcel, 2005. "Social Capital," Handbook of Economic Growth,in: Philippe Aghion & Steven Durlauf (ed.), Handbook of Economic Growth, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 26, pages 1639-1699 Elsevier.
  2. William Easterly & Ross Levine, 1997. "Africa's Growth Tragedy: Policies and Ethnic Divisions," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Oxford University Press, vol. 112(4), pages 1203-1250.
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  4. George A. Akerlof, 1997. "Social Distance and Social Decisions," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 65(5), pages 1005-1028, September.
  5. George A. Akerlof & Rachel E. Kranton, 2000. "Economics and Identity," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Oxford University Press, vol. 115(3), pages 715-753.
  6. Munshi, Kaivan & Myaux, Jacques, 2006. "Social norms and the fertility transition," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 80(1), pages 1-38, June.
  7. Doss, Cheryl R., 2001. "Designing Agricultural Technology for African Women Farmers: Lessons from 25 Years of Experience," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 29(12), pages 2075-2092, December.
  8. George A. Akerlof & Rachel E. Kranton, 2002. "Identity and Schooling: Some Lessons for the Economics of Education," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 40(4), pages 1167-1201, December.
  9. Easterly, William, 2001. "Can Institutions Resolve Ethnic Conflict?," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 49(4), pages 687-706, July.
  10. Fafchamps, Marcel & Gubert, Flore, 2007. "The formation of risk sharing networks," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 83(2), pages 326-350, July.
  11. Marianne Bertrand & Sendhil Mullainathan, 2004. "Are Emily and Greg More Employable Than Lakisha and Jamal? A Field Experiment on Labor Market Discrimination," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 94(4), pages 991-1013, September.
  12. repec:dau:papers:123456789/4392 is not listed on IDEAS
  13. Marcel Fafchamps, 2004. "Market Institutions in Sub-Saharan Africa: Theory and Evidence," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262062364, July.
  14. James J. Heckman, 1998. "Detecting Discrimination," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 12(2), pages 101-116, Spring.
  15. Miguel, Edward & Gugerty, Mary Kay, 2005. "Ethnic diversity, social sanctions, and public goods in Kenya," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 89(11-12), pages 2325-2368, December.
  16. Conley, T. G., 1999. "GMM estimation with cross sectional dependence," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 92(1), pages 1-45, September.
  17. Robert H. Bates, 2000. "Ethnicity and Development in Africa: A Reappraisal," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 90(2), pages 131-134, May.
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Cited by:

  1. Muange, Elijah Nzula & Schwarze, Stefan & Qaim, Matin, 2014. "Social networks and farmer exposure to improved cereal varieties in central Tanzania," 2014 International Congress, August 26-29, 2014, Ljubljana, Slovenia 182645, European Association of Agricultural Economists.
  2. Sommarat Chantarat & Christopher Barrett, 2012. "Social network capital, economic mobility and poverty traps," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 10(3), pages 299-342, September.
  3. Chen, Xi, 2011. "Accounting for social spending escalation in rural China," IAMO Forum 2011: Will the "BRICs Decade" Continue? – Prospects for Trade and Growth 6, Leibniz Institute of Agricultural Development in Central and Eastern Europe (IAMO).
  4. A. Stefano Caria & Marcel Fafchamps, 2015. "Can Farmers Create Efficient Information Networks? Experimental Evidence from Rural India," CSAE Working Paper Series 2015-07, Centre for the Study of African Economies, University of Oxford.
  5. Chen, Xi & Kanbur, Ravi & Zhang, Xiaobo, 2011. "Peer effects, risk pooling, and status seeking: What explains gift spending escalation in rural China?," IFPRI discussion papers 1151, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
  6. repec:dau:papers:123456789/11437 is not listed on IDEAS
  7. Magnan, Nicholas & Spielman, David J. & Gulati, Kajal, 2013. "Female social networks and learning about a new technology in eastern Uttar Pradesh, India," 2013 Annual Meeting, August 4-6, 2013, Washington, D.C. 150688, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
  8. Santos, Paulo & Barrett, Christopher B., 2011. "Persistent poverty and informal credit," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 96(2), pages 337-347, November.
  9. Ma, Xingliang & Spielman, David J. & Nazli, Hina & Zambrano, Patricia & Zaidi, Fatima & Kouser, Shahzad, 2014. "The role of social networks in an imperfect market for agricultural technology products: Evidence on Bt cotton adoption in Pakistan," 2014 Annual Meeting, July 27-29, 2014, Minneapolis, Minnesota 175276, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
  10. Nicholas Magnan & David J Spielman & Travis J. Lybbert & Kajal Gulati, 2013. "Leveling with Friends: Social Networks and Indian Farmers’ Demand for Agricultural Custom Hire Services," Working Papers id:5591, eSocialSciences.
  11. Muange, Elijah N. & Schwarze, Stefan & Qaim, Matin, 2014. "Social networks and farmer exposure to improved crop varieties in Tanzania," Discussion Papers 183635, Georg-August-Universitaet Goettingen, GlobalFood, Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Development.
  12. Yann Bramoullé & Bernard Fortin, 2009. "The Econometrics of Social Networks," Cahiers de recherche 0913, CIRPEE.

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