Technology Upgrading in Agricultural Export Supply Chains: A Field Experiment in Vietnam

Last registered on August 21, 2018

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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title

Technology Upgrading in Agricultural Export Supply Chains: A Field Experiment in Vietnam

RCT ID

AEARCTR-0003237

Initial registration date

August 15, 2018

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

August 21, 2018, 12:30 AM EDT

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

Locations

Country

Viet Nam

Region

Binh Thuan Province

Primary Investigator

Name

Sangyoon Park

Affiliation

University of Hong Kong

Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

Additional Trial Information

Status

On going

Start date

2017-08-01

End date

2020-08-31

Keywords

Other

Additional Keywords

Technology Upgrading, Supply Chain, Agricultural Exports

JEL code(s)

O13, O33, L14

Secondary IDs

Abstract

This proposed project studies technology upgrading in an export supply chain of the dragon fruit industry of Vietnam. Despite demand for high-quality fruits from overseas markets, the supply of dragon fruits that meet export standards is surprisingly low. Observations on agricultural practices show persistent use of low technology along the supply chain. I hypothesize that a key reason for the lack of supply of export-quality dragon fruits is that farmers and intermediaries lack the information and technological resources that are necessary to produce and trade high-quality agricultural products. I plan to test this hypothesis through a randomized control trial that generates exogenous variation in access to information and training on an export-oriented agricultural technology for dragon fruit farmers and intermediaries in Vietnam.

External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation

Park, Sangyoon. 2018. "Technology Upgrading in Agricultural Export Supply Chains: A Field Experiment in Vietnam." AEA RCT Registry. August 21. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.3237-1.0

Former Citation

Park, Sangyoon. 2018. "Technology Upgrading in Agricultural Export Supply Chains: A Field Experiment in Vietnam." AEA RCT Registry. August 21. https://www.socialscienceregistry.org/trials/3237/history/33296

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Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)

The intervention will offer farmers and intermediaries the opportunity to receive information and training on applying new export-oriented technology for growing and processing dragon fruits. I use this variation to understand whether and how technology upgrading in the supply chain occurs as a response to the intervention.

Intervention Start Date

2018-09-01

Intervention End Date

2019-01-31

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)

Primary outcome: Agricultural technology as measured by percentage of practices that meet GAP standards; Export volume; Profits

Primary Outcomes (explanation)

I will measure each farmer’s or intermediary’s technology as the frequency of practices that meet or exceed the standards fully recognized by GLOBAL GAP. The advantages of using this method are twofold. One, it is practical from the farmer’s and intermediary’s points of view since GLOBAL GAP certification is the primary requirement for entering most export markets in the world (UNCTD, 2007). Two, GLOBAL GAP provides a list of standardized practices that can be verified by outsiders, such as our survey team. Under this metric, technology level upgrading refers to an increase in the number of practices that satisfy the standards and practices approved by GLOBAL GAP. Profits will be constructed using revenue and costs collected through surveys.

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)

Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

I will conduct a randomized control trial (RCT) on dragon fruit farmers and intermediaries to examine the effect of information and technology transfers on the adoption of export-oriented agricultural technologies and trading practices. Specifically, I will randomly provide a subset of farmers and intermediaries with the opportunity to participate in information and training sessions on the farming and trading of export-quality dragon fruits.

Experimental Design Details

The experiment is designed with three different treatment groups. In the first treatment group (Treatment 1), only farmers will be invited to the information and training sessions. In the second treatment group (Treatment 2), only intermediaries will be invited. In the third treatment group (Treatment 3), both farmers and intermediaries will be offered the information and training opportunity. Lastly, farmers and intermediaries in the control group will receive no information or training specific to exporting but they will be briefly reminded about potential exporting opportunities.

Randomization Method

Using a computer in my office I will implement stratified random sampling based on data collected from a baseline survey.

Randomization Unit

Sub-commune level

Was the treatment clustered?

Yes

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters

100 villages

Sample size: planned number of observations

800 farmers and 300 intermediaries

Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms

75 villages (approximately 600 farmers and 240 intermediaries) to one of three treatment groups, 25 villages (approximately 200 farmers and 60 intermediaries) to control group

Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)

Holding the sample size of each treatment group at 150 farmers and 70 intermediaries and significance level at 0.05, the statistical power for detecting a 40 percentage point increase in agricultural technology is about 0.97 with farmers and 0.76 with intermediaries, respectively.

Supporting Documents and Materials

IRB