IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/oup/ajagec/v96y2014i5p1439-1454..html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Information, Mobile Telephony, and Traders' Search Behavior in Niger

Author

Listed:
  • Jesse Tack
  • Jenny C. Aker

Abstract

Information and communications technologies have spread rapidly in developing countries. We investigate the impact of mobile phones on traders' search behavior in Niger by constructing a theoretical model of search in which traders engage in sequential search for the optimal sales price. Using a trader panel dataset spanning 2005-2007, we find empirical support for the model in that the duration of mobile phone coverage is associated with increased search activity. This effect evolves dynamically over time and is stronger for larger traders, who engage in arbitrage over longer distances. Results provide empirical evidence for the observed linkages between mobile telephony and price dispersion.

Suggested Citation

  • Jesse Tack & Jenny C. Aker, 2014. "Information, Mobile Telephony, and Traders' Search Behavior in Niger," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 96(5), pages 1439-1454.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:ajagec:v:96:y:2014:i:5:p:1439-1454.
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/ajae/aau063
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Haile, Mekbib G. & Wossen, Tesfamicheal & Kalkuhl, Matthias, 2019. "Access to information, price expectations and welfare: The role of mobile phone adoption in Ethiopia," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 145(C), pages 82-92.
    2. Lim, Krisha & Wichmann, Bruno & Luckert, Martin, 2021. "Adaptation, spatial effects, and targeting: Evidence from Africa and Asia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 139(C).
    3. Arimoto, Yutaka & Kono, Hisaki & Ralandison, Tsilavo & Sakurai, Takeshi & Takahashi, Kazushi, 2015. "Understanding traders' regional arbitage : the case of rice traders in Antananarivo, Madagascar," IDE Discussion Papers 505, Institute of Developing Economies, Japan External Trade Organization(JETRO).
    4. Omid Zamani & Thomas Bittmann & Jens‐Peter Loy, 2024. "Does the internet bring food prices closer together? Exploring search engine query data in Iran," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 75(2), pages 688-715, June.
    5. Joël Cariolle & David A Carroll, 2022. "The Use of Digital for Public Service Provision in Sub-Saharan Africa," Working Papers hal-03004535, HAL.
    6. Xuehao Bi & Bo Wen & Wei Zou, 2022. "The Role of Internet Development in China’s Grain Production: Specific Path and Dialectical Perspective," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-14, March.
    7. Aker, Jenny C. & Ksoll, Christopher, 2016. "Can mobile phones improve agricultural outcomes? Evidence from a randomized experiment in Niger," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 44-51.
    8. Zant, Wouter, 2024. "Mobile phones and Mozambique farmers: Less asymmetric information and more trader competition?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 180(C).
    9. Fekadu Gelaw & Stijn Speelman & Guido Huylenbroeck, 2017. "Impacts of Institutional Intervention on Price Transmissions: The Case of the Ethiopian Commodity Exchange," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 21(4), pages 88-106, November.
    10. Rudra P. Pradhan & Mak B. Arvin & John H. Hall & Sara E. Bennett, 2018. "Mobile telephony, economic growth, financial development, foreign direct investment, and imports of ICT goods: the case of the G-20 countries," Economia e Politica Industriale: Journal of Industrial and Business Economics, Springer;Associazione Amici di Economia e Politica Industriale, vol. 45(2), pages 279-310, June.

    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:oup:ajagec:v:96:y:2014:i:5:p:1439-1454.. 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: Oxford University Press (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/aaeaaea.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.