Market Access and Quality Upgrading: Evidence from Four Field Experiments
通过在乌干达玉米农户中开展系列实验，发现质量升级的因果回报为零，但提供支付质量溢价的市场准入能提高生产力和农业收入，揭示需求侧约束对农村收入和生产力的限制。
Smallholder farming in many developing countries is characterized by low productivity and low-quality output. Low quality limits the price farmers can command and their potential income. We conduct a series of experiments among maize farmers in Uganda to shed light on the barriers to quality upgrading and to study its potential. We find that the causal return to quality is zero. Providing access to a market where quality is paid a market premium led to an increase in farm productivity and income from farming. Our findings reveal the importance of demand-side constraints in limiting rural income and productivity growth.