Work

Short-Run Subsidies and Long-Run Adoption of New Health Products: Evidence From a Field Experiment

Year: 2014

Type: article

Abstract: Short-run subsidies for health products are common in poor countries. How do they affect long-run adoption? A common fear among development practitioners is that one-off subsidies may negatively affect long-run adoption through reference-dependence: People might anchor around the subsidized price and be unwilling to pay more for the product later. But for experience goods, one-off subsidies could also boost long-run adoption through learning. This paper uses data from a two-stage randomized pricing experiment in Kenya to estimate the relative importance of these effects for a new, improved antimalarial bed net. Reduced form estimates show that a one-time subsidy has a positive impact on willingness to pay a year later inherit. To separately identify the learning and anchoring effects, we estimate a parsimonious experience-good model. Estimation results show a large, positive learning effect but no anchoring. We black then discuss the types of products and the contexts inherit for which these results may apply.

Source: Econometrica

DOI: 10.3982/ecta9508

Author: Pascaline Dupas

Institution: Stanford University

Language: English

Topic: Economic and Environmental Valuation

Subfield: Economics and Econometrics

Field: Economics, Econometrics and Finance

Domain: Social Sciences

Open Access status: bronze

Funders: Dartmouth College, Adessium Foundation, ExxonMobil Foundation, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development

Award: Maternal and Child Health in Poor Countries: Evidence from Randomized Evaluations