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  3. American Economic Journal: Applied Economics
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  5. Digital Information Provision and Behavior Change: Lessons from Six Experiments in East Africa

American Economic Journal:
Applied Economics

ISSN 1945-7782 (Print) | ISSN 1945-7790 (Online)

Digital Information Provision and Behavior Change: Lessons from Six Experiments in East Africa

  • Raissa Fabregas
  • Michael Kremer
  • Matthew Lowes
  • Robert On
  • Giulia Zane
American Economic Journal: Applied Economics (Forthcoming)

Abstract

While some studies suggest mobile phone-based information programs change behavior, others find no effect. We evaluate six text{message agricultural extension programs, collectively covering 128,000 farmers. A meta-analysis finds a 1.22-fold increase in the odds of adoption of recommended practices (95% CI: 1.16, 1.29). We cannot reject similar impacts across experiments. Impacts are increased by message repetition, but not by providing more granular information, using behavioral framings, or complementing texts with phone calls. There is little evidence of message fatigue or crowd-out. Despite modest absolute impacts detectable only with large samples or a meta-analysis, texts are inexpensive enough to be cost-effective.

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