Utilization, Profitability, and the Adoption of Animal Draft Power in West Africa
分析西非半干旱热带地区农户为何迟迟不采纳动物牵引动力替代人工耕作，发现家庭特征和外部因素决定设备利用率，低利用率是回报低的主因，且需较长学习期才能实现高利用和收益。
Abstract Farmers in West Africa's semi‐arid tropics have been slow to adopt animal draft power to replace manual cultivation, defying the logic of conventional choice‐of‐technique analyses. This paper demonstrates that farmers can profitably adopt animal draft power when household characteristics and exogenous factors permit high utilization of animals and equipment. Empirical analysis of farm‐level data indicates that low utilization is the key cause of low returns, and that a long learning period precedes achieving high utilization and benefits. Linear programming models are used to establish the importance of family size, access to land, and appropriate implements in achieving profitable adoption.