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Working Paper

Agricultural Technology Choice and Transport

LIVING STANDARDS TRADITIONAL TECHNOLOGY PURCHASE PRICE COSTS OF TRAVEL PRICE OF FUEL PRODUCTION INCOME VEHICLE SPEED TRANSPORT INFRASTRUCTURE TRANSPORTATION COSTS FREIGHT TRANSPORT ELASTICITY OF DEMAND INFORMATION LIQUIDITY ELASTICITY POLITICAL ECONOMY WELFARE INCENTIVES DIMINISHING RETURNS TRAVEL SPEED VARIABLES MODELS SYSTEM IMPACT OF TRANSPORT COSTS HIGHWAY SYSTEM TAX INPUTS CITIES DECISIONS GROSS VEHICLE WEIGHT RETURNS TO SCALE WEALTH CODES AGRICULTURAL OUTPUT TRANSPORTATION INFRASTRUCTURE TRENDS ROAD TYPE LITERACY PRICE INCENTIVES INCREASING RETURNS TO SCALE KNOWLEDGE TRAVEL COSTS DEVELOPMENT NEW TECHNOLOGIES CHOICE VEHICLE DATA INFLUENCE TOTAL FACTOR PRODUCTIVITY ROAD DIGITAL COSTS TRANSPORTATION NETWORK DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS ROAD NETWORK TRANSPORT IMPACT OF TRANSPORT FIXED COSTS PRODUCTIVITY EXTERNALITIES INDUSTRIALIZATION FAILURES INCREASING RETURNS MARKETS CONNECTIVITY COSTS PER VEHICLE LEARNING PIXELS CULTURAL CHANGE RESEARCH TRAVEL TIMES UTILITY ROUTE ROAD QUALITY INFRASTRUCTURE TECHNOLOGY PRODUCTIVITY GROWTH HUMAN CAPITAL TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGE RADAR TRAVEL TRANSPORTATION WAGES POLICIES ECONOMIC OUTCOMES BASIC PARTICIPATION VALUE PRODUCTION FUNCTIONS ELASTICITIES CREDIT ALTERNATIVE TECHNOLOGIES ACCESSIBILITY SYSTEMS RURAL INFRASTRUCTURE UTILITY FUNCTION AGRICULTURE DECISION MAKING MEASUREMENT UNDERDEVELOPMENT ENDOGENOUS VARIABLES POLICY PRODUCTION FUNCTION ROADS FUNCTIONAL FORMS WALKING HIGHWAY TRADE RAILROAD VEHICLE COST GOODS THEORY TRANSPORTATION COST INVESTMENT COMPARATIVE ADVANTAGE TRANSACTIONS COSTS FUEL COMPETITIVE MARKETS REVENUE INVESTMENTS IT NEW TECHNOLOGY AT PEDESTRIANS ECONOMIC GEOGRAPHY TRANSPORT COSTS TECHNOLOGIES OUTCOMES TRAVEL TIME FUEL COST FREIGHT ATTRIBUTES INNOVATIONS ENGINEERS DEVELOPMENT POLICY
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World Bank, Washington, DC
Africa | Nigeria
2015-06-02T21:21:37Z | 2015-06-02T21:21:37Z | 2015-05

This paper addresses an old and recurring theme in development economics: the slow adoption of new technologies by farmers in many developing countries. The paper explores a somewhat novel link to explain this puzzle -- the link between market access and the incentives to adopt a new technology when there are non-convexities. The paper develops a theoretical model to guide the empirical analysis, which uses spatially disaggregated agricultural production data from Spatial Production Allocation Model and Living Standards Measurement Study survey data for Nigeria. The model is used to estimate the impact of transport costs on crop production, the adoption of modern technologies, and the differential impact on returns of modern versus traditional farmers. To overcome the limitation of data availability on travel costs for much of Africa, road survey data are combined with geographic information road network data to generate the most thorough and accurate road network available. With these data and the Highway Development Management Model, minimum travel costs from each location to the market are computed. Consistent with the theory, analysis finds that transportation costs are critical in determining technology choices, with a greater responsiveness among farmers who adopt modern technologies, and at times a perverse (negative) response to lower transport costs among those who employ more traditional techniques. In sum, the paper presents compelling evidence that the constraints to the adoption of modern technologies and access to markets are interconnected, and so should be targeted jointly.

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