Climate risk and state-contingent technology adoption: shocks, drought tolerance and preferences
研究马拉维粮食不安全农户对耐旱玉米的采纳行为，发现风险厌恶程度高的农户更可能采纳耐旱玉米，过去干旱冲击也促进了采纳。
Climate risk represents an increasing threat to poor and vulnerable farmers in drought-prone areas of Africa. This study assesses the maize adoption responses of food insecure farmers in Malawi, where drought-tolerant (DT) maize was recently introduced. A field experiment, eliciting relative risk aversion, loss aversion and subjective probability weighting parameters of farmers, is combined with a detailed farm household survey. A state-contingent production model with cumulative prospect theory preferences is estimated. More risk-averse households were more likely to have adopted DT maize, less likely to have adopted other improved maize varieties and less likely to have dis-adopted traditional local maize (LM). Exposure to past drought shocks stimulated adoption of DT maize and dis-adoption of LM.