The Demand for Advice: Theory and Empirical Evidence from Farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa
研究了农民为何不积极使用免费但需投入注意力的农业咨询服务，提出注意力稀缺是需求低的原因，并用撒哈拉以南非洲的农户面板数据验证了理论预测。
Abstract Low levels of investment into modern technologies, and limited use of measures that have low monetary cost but the potential for high yields, are often regarded as obstacles to further agricultural development. This paper investigates farmers’ demand for one such measure, namely agricultural advisory services. These have modest (most frequently zero) monetary user cost but, according to some recent research, have the potential to result in large increases of yields. Yet demand for these extension services is often low. We propose that costly attention may be part of the explanation for this. In our model, advisory services are available free of charge, but positive effects on production are only realized if farmers devote attention to listening to and implementing the provided advice. Modeling farmers as rational decision makers facing scarce attention, we identify the circumstances under which farmers may optimally abstain from demanding advisory services. The model complements the insights of other theories commonly used to explain suboptimal farm decisions and outcomes, and generates testable predictions, which are consistent with empirical evidence based on a large farm-level panel dataset from Sub-Saharan Africa.