Information Flows and Social Externalities in a Tanzanian Banana Growing Village
基于坦桑尼亚村庄普查数据，分析社会网络如何促进信息流动和香蕉产量增长，发现信息流动存在于各类群体中，但产量外部性仅限于亲属群体。
This article analyses the role of social networks as facilitators of information flows and banana output increase. Based on a village census, full information is available on the socio-economic characteristics and banana production of farmers' kinship group members, neighbours and informal insurance group members. The census data enable us to use individual specific reference groups and include exogenous group controls to tackle standard difficulties related to identification and omitted variables bias when analysing social effects. For the survey village of Nyakatoke in Tanzania the results suggest that information flows exist within all types of groups analysed but output externalities are limited to kinship groups. Using networks may offer scope for effective information flows on agricultural techniques, but our evidence suggests that not just any local network will have a social externality impact, requiring a clear understanding of local social networks for maximum impact.