IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/cpr/ceprdp/12070.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Can Referral Improve Targeting? Evidence from a Vocational Training Experiment

Author

Listed:
  • Fafchamps, Marcel
  • Islam, Asad
  • Pakrashi, Debayan
  • Malek, Abdul

Abstract

We seek to improve the targeting of vocational training by inviting past trainees to select future trainees from a candidate pool. Some referees are rewarded or incentivized. Training increases the adoption of recommended practices and improves performance on average, but not all trainees adopt. Referred trainees are 3.7% more likely to adopt, but rewarding or incentivizing referees does not improve referral quality. When referees receive financial compensation, average adoption increases and referee and referred are more likely to coordinate their adoption behavior.

Suggested Citation

  • Fafchamps, Marcel & Islam, Asad & Pakrashi, Debayan & Malek, Abdul, 2017. "Can Referral Improve Targeting? Evidence from a Vocational Training Experiment," CEPR Discussion Papers 12070, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    • Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:12070
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://cepr.org/publications/DP12070
    Download Restriction: CEPR Discussion Papers are free to download for our researchers, subscribers and members. If you fall into one of these categories but have trouble downloading our papers, please contact us at subscribers@cepr.org
    ---><---

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

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Sinha, Shekhar Kumar & Talati, Jayesh, 2007. "Productivity impacts of the system of rice intensification (SRI): A case study in West Bengal, India," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 87(1), pages 55-60, January.
    2. Kazushi Takahashi & Christopher B. Barrett, 2014. "The System of Rice Intensification and its Impacts on Household Income and Child Schooling: Evidence from Rural Indonesia," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 96(1), pages 269-289.
    3. Christopher B. Barrett & Christine M. Moser & Oloro V. McHugh & Joeli Barison, 2004. "Better Technology, Better Plots, or Better Farmers? Identifying Changes in Productivity and Risk among Malagasy Rice Farmers," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 86(4), pages 869-888.
    4. Christine M. Moser & Christopher B. Barrett, 2006. "The complex dynamics of smallholder technology adoption: the case of SRI in Madagascar," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 35(3), pages 373-388, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

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


    Cited by:

    1. Jessica Goldberg & Mario Macis & Pradeep Chintagunta, 2023. "Incentivized Peer Referrals for Tuberculosis Screening: Evidence from India," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 15(1), pages 259-291, January.
    2. Cátia Batista & Marcel Fafchamps & Pedro C Vicente, 2022. "Keep It Simple: A Field Experiment on Information Sharing among Strangers [Changing Saving and Investment Behavior: The Impact of Financial Literacy Training and Reminders on Micro-Businesses]," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 36(4), pages 857-888.
    3. Cátia Batista & Marcel Fafchamps & Pedro C. Vicente, 2018. "Keep It Simple: A Field Experiment on Information Sharing in Social Networks," NBER Working Papers 24908, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Islam, Asadul & Ushchev, Philip & Zenou, Yves & Zhang, Xin, 2019. "The Value of Information in Technology Adoption," IZA Discussion Papers 12672, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    5. Zenou, Yves & Islam, Asad & Ushchev, Philip & Zhang, Xin, 2018. "The Value of Information in Technology Adoption: Theory and Evidence from Bangladesh," CEPR Discussion Papers 13419, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    6. Grimm, Michael & Luck, Nathalie, 2020. "Can Training Enhance Adoption, Knowledge and Perception of Organic Farming Practices? Evidence from a Randomized Experiment in Indonesia," IZA Discussion Papers 13400, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Berkhout, Ezra & Glover, Dominic & Kuyvenhoven, Arie, 2015. "On-farm impact of the System of Rice Intensification (SRI): Evidence and knowledge gaps," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 157-166.
    2. Islam, Asadul & Ushchev, Philip & Zenou, Yves & Zhang, Xin, 2019. "The Value of Information in Technology Adoption," IZA Discussion Papers 12672, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    3. Christopher B. Barrett & Asad Islam & Abdul Mohammad Malek & Debayan Pakrashi & Ummul Ruthbah, 2022. "Experimental Evidence on Adoption and Impact of the System of Rice Intensification," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 104(1), pages 4-32, January.
    4. Barrett, Christopher B. & Islam, Asad & Pakrashi, Debayan & Ruthbah, Ummul, 2021. "Experimental Evidence on Adoption and Impact of the System of rice Intensification," Working Papers 309950, Cornell University, Department of Applied Economics and Management.
    5. Zenou, Yves & Islam, Asad & Ushchev, Philip & Zhang, Xin, 2018. "The Value of Information in Technology Adoption: Theory and Evidence from Bangladesh," CEPR Discussion Papers 13419, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    6. Noltze, Martin & Schwarze, Stefan & Qaim, Matin, 2013. "Impacts of natural resource management technologies on agricultural yield and household income: The system of rice intensification in Timor Leste," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 59-68.
    7. Graf, Sarah Lena & Oya, Carlos, 2021. "Is the system of rice intensification (SRI) pro poor? Labour, class and technological change in West Africa," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 193(C).
    8. Behura, D. & Haldar, S. & Pal, A., 2018. "Resilient farm technologies in achieving sustainable development: Performance and Adoption of SRI under multiple constraints in Odisha, India," 2018 Conference, July 28-August 2, 2018, Vancouver, British Columbia 277448, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    9. Ly, Proyuth & Jensen, Lars Stoumann & Bruun, Thilde Bech & Rutz, Dominik & de Neergaard, Andreas, 2012. "The System of Rice Intensification: Adapted practices, reported outcomes and their relevance in Cambodia," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 16-27.
    10. Gathorne-Hardy, Alfred & Reddy, D. Narasimha & Venkatanarayana, M. & Harriss-White, Barbara, 2016. "System of Rice Intensification provides environmental and economic gains but at the expense of social sustainability — A multidisciplinary analysis in India," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 143(C), pages 159-168.
    11. Vandercasteelen, Joachim & Dereje, Mekdim & Minten, Bart & Taffesse, Alemayehu Seyoum, 2013. "Scaling-up adoption of improved technologies: The impact of the promotion of row planting on farmers’ teff yields in Ethiopia:," ESSP working papers 60, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    12. Vandercasteelen, Joachim & Dereje, Mekdim & Minten, Bart & Taffesse, Alemayehu Seyoum, 2016. "Row planting teff in Ethiopia: Impact on farm-level profitability and labor allocation," ESSP working papers 92, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    13. Yuko Nakano & Yuki Tanaka & Keijiro Otsuka, 2018. "Impact of training on the intensification of rice farming: evidence from rainfed areas in Tanzania," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 49(2), pages 193-202, March.
    14. Joachim Vandercasteelen & Mekdim Dereje & Bart Minten & Alemayehu Seyoum Taffesse, 2018. "Labour, profitability and gender impacts of adopting row planting in Ethiopia," European Review of Agricultural Economics, Oxford University Press and the European Agricultural and Applied Economics Publications Foundation, vol. 45(4), pages 471-503.
    15. Abbie Turiansky, "undated". "Collective Action in Games as in Life: Experimental Evidence from Canal Cleaning in Haiti," Mathematica Policy Research Reports b4f3a3ef599b43c6a875d9380, Mathematica Policy Research.
    16. Tamru, Seneshaw & Minten, Bart & Alemu, Dawit & Bachewe, Fantu Nisrane, 2016. "The rapid expansion of herbicide use in smallholder agriculture in Ethiopia: Patterns, drivers, and implications," ESSP working papers 94, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    17. Mintewab Bezabih & Remidius Ruhinduka & Mare Sarr, 2016. "Climate change perception and system of rice intensification (SRI) impact on dispersion and downside risk: a moment approximation approach," GRI Working Papers 256, Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment.
    18. Bevis, Leah EM. & Barrett, Christopher B., 2020. "Close to the edge: High productivity at plot peripheries and the inverse size-productivity relationship," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 143(C).
    19. Noltze, Martin & Schwarze, Stefan & Qaim, Matin, 2012. "Understanding the adoption of system technologies in smallholder agriculture: The system of rice intensification (SRI) in Timor Leste," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 108(C), pages 64-73.
    20. Butler, J.S. & Moser, Christine M., 2010. "Complementarities and differences in adoption: an application of hazard models to two technologies in Madagascar," 2010 Annual Meeting, July 25-27, 2010, Denver, Colorado 61381, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Targeting; Social Networks; Agricultural innovation; Extension;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D83 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Search; Learning; Information and Knowledge; Communication; Belief; Unawareness
    • O13 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Agriculture; Natural Resources; Environment; Other Primary Products
    • O33 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:cpr:ceprdp:12070. 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.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with 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: the person in charge (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.cepr.org .

    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.