Household Demand and Willingness to Pay for Induction Cookstoves: Evidence from a Field Experiment in Cambodia

This study assesses the willingness to pay for induction cookstoves in Cambodia using a BDM elicitation.

2025-10-04

2025-11-15

Willingness to pay for induction stove

Willingness to pay for induction stoves will be measured using the incentive-compatible BDM mechanism.

We will estimate willingness to pay among 250 households in peri-urban Cambodia between October-November 2025. Using the Becker-deGroot-Marschak (BDM) method, eligible participants will receive a visit from a sales agent who will conduct a household survey and give a sales pitch on the induction stove. After collecting demographic information, the sales agent will pitch the induction stove to individual participants and introduce them to the BDM bidding game. In the BDM game, participants will be asked to state their maximum WTP and then randomly select a stove price from a predetermined distribution ranging from $50 (assumed minimum bid) to $180 (stove market price). Participants will play practice BDM rounds for familiar products (soap; stainless steel pot) to ensure they comprehend the bidding/game format.

Within each village, we will recruit 50 households to participate in this study. Households will be stratified by IDPoor status (a government program to provide social services to low-income households), with 25 IDPoor or at-risk households and 25 non-poor households selected in each village. IDPoor and at-risk households will be randomly sampled from the village chief’s list of IDPoor and at-risk households using a random number generator in Excel. Non-poor households will be randomly sampled from the village census using a random number generator in Excel.
Eligible households will receive a visit from a sales agent who will conduct a household survey, which includes a sales pitch on the induction cookstove, to assess willingness to pay. After collecting demographic information, current cookstove ownership, sales agents will present the induction cookstove. The survey will also capture costs associated with their current cookstove ownership as well as present features about the induction cookstove. Benefits of the cookstove highlighted in the pitch will include time savings from cookstove use, safety features, smoke reduction, and fuel cost savings. The pitch will also highlight that induction-compatible pots will need to be used for the cookstove to function.
The sales agent will then introduce the Becker-deGroot-Marschak bidding game. In the BDM game, participants will be asked to state their WTP and then will randomly select a stove price from a predetermined distribution. If their bid is above the stove price, they will be provided with an offer to purchase the stove at that price. If their bid is below the stove price, they will not be able to buy the stove. To orient participants to the BDM bidding process, we will conduct two practice rounds using goods known to the participants (Dizon-Ross & Jayachandran, 2022), such as a bar of soap and a stainless steel pot. The soap and pot will be a non-incentivized good.
We will use on-site bid randomization using a uniform distribution for participants to randomly select a price. Prices will be in sealed envelopes that the participant can choose from. We are opting for on-site randomization as it will improve trust among the participants (Burchardi et al., 2021). The randomized price, p, will be drawn from a continuous distribution where p ~Uniform(50,180).

On-site randomization at household (random draw of prices from envelopes)
Computer used to sample 10 random prices from uniform distribution [50,180]

Individual

No

5 villages

250 households

250 households