Jacopo Bonan

Is it all about Money? A Randomized Evaluation of the Impact of Insurance Literacy and Marketing Treatments on the Demand for Health Microinsurance in Senegal

In Senegal mutual health organizations (MHOs) have been present in the greater region of Thies for years. Despite their benefits, in some areas there remain low take-up rates. We offer an insurance literacy module, communicating the benefits from health microinsurance and the functioning of MHOs, to a randomly selected sample of households in the city of Thies. The effects of this training, and three cross-cutting marketing treatments, are evaluated using a randomized control trial. We find that the insurance literacy module has no impact, but that our marketing treatment has a significant effect on the take up decisions of households.

Households’ Willingness to Pay for Health Microinsurance and its Impact on Actual Take-up: Results from a Field Experiment in Senegal

Abstract Community-based health insurance schemes (CBHIS) have been present in the region of Theis, Senegal, for many years. Yet, despite the benefits they offer, take-up rates remain low. This article measures the willingness to pay (WTP) for CBHIS premiums in such a context; our results highlight the role of income, wealth and risk preferences as determinants of WTP. We also provide an analysis of the predictive power of WTP on the actual take-up of insurance following our offering of membership to a sample of 360 households. Results show that WTP has a positive and significant impact on actual CBHIS take-up.

Access to Modern Energy: A Review of Impact Evaluations

Universal access to modern energy services, in terms of access to electricity and to modern cooking facilities, has been recognized as fundamental challenge for development and is likely to be included in the post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals. Despite a strong praise for action and several programs at both national and international level, very few impact evaluation studies try to shed light on the causal relationship between access to energy and development, by also allowing decision makers to rigorously assess cost-effectiveness and efficiency of policies and programs. This work attempts to review the literature on existing impact evaluation of access to electricity and modern cooking facilities. For access to electricity we consider as outcomes labour markets, time allocation, household welfare (consumption, income, schooling and health) and business. For access to improved cookstoves, we assess impacts on household welfare. The reviewed literature highlights a significant causal impact of electricity access on important metrics of wellbeing, but more mixed evidence regarding clean cookstove. Finally, we also review the barriers and drivers of access to modern energy services identified by most recent impact evaluation studies.

Junior Farmer Field Schools, Agricultural Knowledge and Spillover Effects: Quasi-experimental Evidence from Northern Uganda

Abstract We analyse the impact of a junior farmer field school project in Northern Uganda on students’ agricultural knowledge and practices. We also test for the presence of intergenerational learning spillover within households. We use differences-in-differences estimators with ex-ante matching and find evidence that the programme had positive effects on students’ agricultural knowledge and adoption of good practices. The project also produced spillover effects in terms of improvements of household agricultural knowledge and food security. Overall, our results point to the importance of adapting the basic principles of farmer field schools to children.

Social Interaction and Technology Adoption: Experimental Evidence from Improved Cookstoves in Mali

We investigate the role of social interaction in technology adoption by conducting a field experiment in neighborhoods of Bamako. We invited women to attend a training/marketing session, where information on a more efficient cooking stove was provided and the chance to purchase the product at market price was offered. We randomly provided an information nudge on a peer’s willingness to buy an improved cookstove. We find that women purchase and use the product more when they receive information on a peer who purchased (or previously owned) the product, particularly if she is viewed as respected. In general, we find positive direct and spillover effects of attending the session. We also investigate whether social interaction plays a role in technology diffusion. We find that women who participated in the session, but did not buy during the intervention, are more likely to adopt the product when more women living around them own it. We investigate the mechanisms and provide evidence supporting imitation effects, rather than social learning or constraint interaction.

Increasing anti-malaria bednet take-up using information and distribution strategies: evidence from a field trial in Senegal

ABSTRACT We evaluate the effects of different marketing and distribution techniques on the purchase of Long-Lasting Insecticide-Treated Nets (LL-ITN). Using an individually assigned quasi-randomised controlled trial in urban Senegal, we look at the impacts of different sale treatments. Receiving an offer to purchase an LL-ITN with a voucher valid for seven days increases purchases by 23 percentage points, compared to an on-the-spot sale offer. We find suggestive evidence that providing information is not significantly correlated to the demand for LL-ITNs, but appears to be for individuals who have never attended school and have poor knowledge of malaria.

Increasing Anti-Malaria Bednet Uptake Using Information and Distribution Strategies: Evidence from a Randomized Experiment in Senegal

We evaluate the effects of different marketing and distribution techniques on the purchase of Long-Lasting Insecticide-Treated Nets (LL-ITN). Using a randomized controlled trial in urban Senegal, we look at the impacts of receiving information on malaria-related issues and of different sale treatments. We find that overall information has no significant effect on the demand for LL-ITNs, but has a significant effect on individuals who have never attended school and have poor knowledge of malaria. Receiving an offer to purchase an LL-ITN with a voucher valid for 7 days increases purchases by 23 percentage points, compared to an on-the-spot sale offer.

Can Hypothetical Time Discounting Rates Predict Actual Behaviour: Evidence from a Randomized Experiment

This paper estimates time preference parameters using commonly-applied methodologies, with the aim of investigating the link between these measures and actual economic behaviour. An experiment was conducted in the city of Thies, in Senegal, using the unique reference numbers of banknotes as a means of determining an individual’s willingness to save money. The findings of this experiment provide an innovative comparison between real choices, and choices made in the presence of hypothetical rewards. Our research indicates that individuals display a far greater degree of patience, when the possibility of genuine financial gain is made available to them. Our results show that hypothetical time preferences parameters are poor predictors of actual behaviour, prompting questions over the validity of commonly used measurements.

Extension Services, Production and Welfare Evidence from a Field Experiment in Ethiopia

The paper assesses the impact of a small-scale agricultural extension project implemented in rural Ethiopia and aimed at introducing the culti- vation of horticultural gardens along with some innovative techniques, products and inputs. Our main outcome of interest is the level of adoption of new horticultural products. We also assess the consequent impacts on the level of revenues from sale and diet diversification. We use a mixed impact evaluation design combining across-villages comparisons, through difference-in-differences estimations, with a within village randomized control trial. To this aim, we make use of micro-data collected through surveys administered to 602 households in two time periods (2013 and 2014). We find that the project contributes to production diversification as the number of house- holds growing vegetables increases by about 30%. Overall, such changes do not seem to in uence in a relevant way the total revenues from sales of agricultural products and do not consequently affect household welfare. We do not find significant changes in the consumption of vegetables and only marginal increase in fruit uptake. This leads to an overall irrelevant impact on diet diversification.

Increasing Anti-Malaria Bednets Uptake Using Information and Distribution Strategies

Abstract This paper studies the effect of information on malaria and of distribution strategies on the demand for anti-malaria bednets. We use a randomized experiment in the city of Thies in Senegal. We offer two orthogonal treatments to a random sample of households. The first is a sale treatment and consists of (1) an offer to purchase on the spot a bednet at a subsidized price or (2) an offer to purchase a bednet at the same subsidized price with a voucher valid for 7 days. The second is an information treatment that consists of a ten-minute information session on malaria related issues. We find that information has no significant effect on the demand of bednets and that, receiving a voucher increases purchasing by 20%. Our results suggest that selling bednets at a subsidized prize allowing for some flexibility with a short period of seven days increases purchase compared to the on-the-spot sale approach.