Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/259363 
Year of Publication: 
2022
Series/Report no.: 
WIDER Working Paper No. 2022/7
Publisher: 
The United Nations University World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER), Helsinki
Abstract: 
This paper analyses the pathways of technology diffusion through social networks, following the experimental introduction of new technologies in Guinea-Bissau. In the context of an agricultural extension project, we document both the direct effects of this intervention and subsequent diffusion from trainees to the wider community. In order to test for social learning, we exploit a detailed census of households and social connections across different social dimensions. In our first result, we show that trainees' knowledge and adoption rose immediately after training, remaining stable thereafter. Secondly, we show that agricultural information diffuses along social network links from project participants to non-participants. However, these effects are heterogeneous across different types of networks-the most relevant being a farmer's 'financial support'. Despite positive effects in knowledge, evidence of network impacts on actual adoption behaviour is more limited.
Subjects: 
agriculture
technology adoption
social learning
social networks
JEL: 
O13
O31
Q16
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
ISBN: 
978-92-9267-138-9
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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