Mobile phone coverage and producer markets: evidence from West Africa

No 6986, Policy Research Working Paper Series from The World Bank

Abstract: Mobile phone coverage has expanded considerably throughout the developing world, particularly within sub-Saharan Africa. Existing evidence suggests that increased access to information technology has improved agricultural market efficiency for consumer markets and certain commodities, but there is less evidence of its impact on producer markets. Building on the work of Aker (2010), this paper estimates the impact of mobile phone coverage on producer price dispersion for three commodities in Niger. The results suggest that mobile phone coverage reduces spatial producer price dispersion by 6 percent for cowpea, a semi-perishable commodity. These effects are strongest for remote markets and during certain periods of the year. The introduction of mobile phone coverage has no effect on producer price dispersion for millet and sorghum, two staple grains that are less perishable and are commonly stored by farmers. There are no impacts of mobile phone coverage on traders'gross margins or producer price levels, but mobile phone coverage is associated with a reduction in the intra-annual price variation for cowpea. These results are potentially explained by the fact that farmers engage in greater storage for storable commodities such as millet and sorghum.

Keywords: Markets and Market Access; E-Business; Access to Markets; Debt Markets; Emerging Markets (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014-07-01
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-afr, nep-agr and nep-dev
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (41)

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Related works:
Journal Article: Mobile Phone Coverage and Producer Markets: Evidence from West Africa (2015)
Working Paper: Mobile Phone Coverage and Producer Markets: Evidence from West Africa (2013)
Working Paper: Mobile Phone Coverage and Producer Markets: Evidence from West Africa (2013)
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