Work

What Impedes Efficient Adoption of Products? Evidence from Randomized Variation in Sales Offers for Improved Cookstoves in Uganda

Year: 2012

Type: preprint

Study designs: Randomized Controlled Trial, Clinical Trial

Abstract: Many people do not purchase products that would appear to benefit them. For example, the price of an efficient cookstove can be less than a few months’ savings on fuel. If liquidity constraints, present bias, and poor information on fuel savings and stove durability are barriers, then combining a free trial, time payments, and the right to return the stove at any time should increase sales. In a randomized trial, this offer increases uptake of an efficient charcoal-burning stove in Kampala, Uganda, from 4% to 46%. We provide additional evidence that both liquidity constraints and imperfect information were important barriers.

Source: RePEc: Research Papers in Economics

Authors: David I. Levine, Carolyn Cotterman

Institution: University of California, Berkeley

Language: English

Topic: Energy and Environment Impacts

Subfield: Pollution

Field: Environmental Science

Domain: Physical Sciences

Open Access status: green

Funders: Silicon Valley Community Foundation, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development

OpenAlex ID: W2112634275

Cites: 40

Cited by: 42

Related to: 10