The Emergence of a Market for New Storage Technologies: Addressing Supply and Demand Constraints to Technology Adoption

Last registered on December 03, 2024
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
The Emergence of a Market for New Storage Technologies: Addressing Supply and Demand Constraints to Technology Adoption
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0014940
Initial registration date
December 02, 2024

Initial registration date is when the trial was registered.

It corresponds to when the registration was submitted to the Registry to be reviewed for publication.

First published
December 03, 2024, 1:39 PM EST

First published corresponds to when the trial was first made public on the Registry after being reviewed.

Locations

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Primary Investigator

Name
Jenny Aker
Affiliation
Tufts University
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Other Primary Investigator(s)

Additional Trial Information

Status
On going
Start date
2020-11-20
End date
2025-01-31
Keywords
Agriculture
Additional Keywords
storage technology, agricultural markets, demand elicitation experiments
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
Cowpeas are an important cash crop for farmers in West Africa, and particularly in Niger, the second largest cowpea producer in the world. During storage, cowpeas are highly susceptible to degradation by the cowpea weevil. Despite the importance of this issue for millions of farmers and traders, adoption of a proven technology to minimize storage losses – hermetically sealed bags, or PICS – remains low in most areas of West Africa, and Niger in particular. In 2016, and with ATAI funding, we conducted a pilot study across 63 villages and 31 markets in Niger designed to understand the barriers to adoption of this technology. Based on the insights from that study, we propose to conduct a randomized control trial involving three interventions to address the demand- and supply-side constraints associated with PICS adoption: 1) an information treatment for farmers that covers the full costs of traditional storage technologies; 2) an information intervention for traders (input suppliers); and 3) both. These will be criss randomized at both the village and market level. The results will enable measurement of the relative impacts of relaxing supply and demand-side constraints to market development and technology adoption, as well as the relative cost effectiveness of these different strategies. Before conducting the experiment, we will also elicit demand for the technology using a baseline willingness-to-pay experiment, randomized at the village level.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Aker, Jenny. 2024. "The Emergence of a Market for New Storage Technologies: Addressing Supply and Demand Constraints to Technology Adoption." AEA RCT Registry. December 03. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.14940-1.0
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Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
This experiment consists of four interventions.

First, at baseline, we stratify by region and market size, and randomly assign half of villages to a WTP (BDM) experiment, whereby households are introduced to the technology and have the opportunity to bid (and win).

Approximately one year after baseline, we stratify by the baseline WTP experiment and randomly assign villages to either an information experiment about the technology, or none; as well as markets near the villages to an information experiment about the technology, or none. A subset of clusters are assigned to both interventions.
Intervention Start Date
2020-11-20
Intervention End Date
2021-11-30

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Storage of the new technology
Storage using the old technologies, including pesticides
Duration of storage
Storage losses
Agricultural production and storage (amounts)
Health outcomes associated with pesticide consumption
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
First, at baseline, we stratify by region and market size, and randomly assign half of villages to a WTP (BDM) experiment, whereby households are introduced to the technology and have the opportunity to bid (and win).

Approximately one year after baseline, we stratify by the baseline WTP experiment and randomly assign villages to either an information experiment about the technology, or none; as well as markets near the villages to an information experiment about the technology, or none. A subset of clusters are assigned to both interventions.
Experimental Design Details
Not available
Randomization Method
The randomization was completed by office in a computer
Randomization Unit
For the baseline WTP experiment, the unit of randomization is the village level.
For the broader (information) experiment, the unit of randomization is market 'clusters" - either markets, or villages associated with those markets.
Was the treatment clustered?
Yes

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
There are 220 villages and 150 markets in our experiment.
Sample size: planned number of observations
At baseline, in villages, we stratified by gender and chose 12 people per village, with an estimated sample of 2639 farmers. In markets, we conducted a census of all bag traders, yielding a sample of approximately 800 traders.
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
For the WTP experiment, we have approximately 110 villages in each treatment arm (107 in one, 113 in the other).
For the broader experiment, we have approximately 50 clusters in each treatment arm.
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Tufts University
IRB Approval Date
2018-10-11
IRB Approval Number
1807036
Analysis Plan