Banerji, A., Chowdhury, Shyamal, De Groote, Hugo, Meenakshi, J.V., Tomlins, Keith, Haleegoah, Joyce and Ewool, Manfred (2013) Using elicitation mechanisms to estimate the demand for nutritious maize: evidence from experiments in rural Ghana (HarvestPlus Working Paper No. 10). [Working Paper]

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Abstract

In this paper we assess (a) consumers’ willingness to pay (WTP) for a recently developed variety of maize that is high in provitamin A in the context of a public health intervention and (b) the performance of three elicitation mechanisms in estimating WTP in a field experiment in Ghana. The mechanisms that we used for elicitation are the Becker-DeGroot-Marschak (BDM) mechanism, kth price auction, and choice experiment. The basic design of the experiment involved random allocation of consumers to one of three elicitation methods. This was augmented to include treatment arms to address the effect of (1) participation fees and (2) nutrition information on WTP. Estimation of BDM and kth price auction models that account for censoring of bids at the market price for maize (kenkey) and estimation of a conditional logit (CLM) model for the choice experiment that accounts for lexicographic references yield estimates of average WTP that are similar in magnitude across the three elicitation mechanisms. Variation in participation fee has no effect on estimated WTP in the two mechanisms that varied participation fee, suggesting that people did not have a higher propensity to spend out of windfall income. In the absence of information on the nutrient density of the new maize variety, subjects are willing to pay less for it than the existing varieties; however, nutrition information transforms this discount into a substantial premium.

Item Type:	Working Paper
Additional Information:	[1] Suggested Citation: Banerji, A., Chowdhury, Shyamal, De Groote , Hugo, Meenakshi, J.V., Tomlins, Keith, Haleegoah, Joyce and Ewool, Manfred (2013) Using elicitation mechanisms to estimate the demand for nutritious maize: evidence from experiments in rural Ghana (HarvestPlus Working Paper No. 10). Available at: http://www.harvestplus.org/content/using-elicitation-mechanisms-estimate-demand-nutritious-maize-evidence-experiments-rural-gha [2] HarvestPlus Working Papers contain preliminary material and research results that have been reviewed by at least one external reviewer. They are circulated in order to stimulate discussion and critical comment. [3] Copyright © 2013, HarvestPlus. All rights reserved. Sections of this material may be reproduced for personal and notfor- profit use without the express written permission of, but with acknowledgment to, HarvestPlus. [4] HarvestPlus leads a global effort to improve nutrition and public health by developing and disseminating staple food crops that are rich in vitamins and minerals. HarvestPlus works with public and private sector partners in more than 40 countries. HarvestPlus is part of the CGIAR Research Program on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health (A4NH). CGIAR is a global agriculture research partnership for a food secure future. Its science is carried out by its 15 research centers in collaboration with hundreds of partner organizations. The HarvestPlus program is coordinated by two of these centers, the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) and the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
Uncontrolled Keywords:	elicitation mechanisms, demand, nutritious maize, Ghana
Subjects:	S Agriculture > S Agriculture (General)
Faculty / School / Research Centre / Research Group:	Faculty of Engineering & Science > Natural Resources Institute
Related URLs:	Publisher
Last Modified:	01 Sep 2014 09:46
URI:	http://gala.gre.ac.uk/id/eprint/11907

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