UC Davis Agricultural and Resource Economics

Kajal Gulati, University of California, Davis

Who's the Boss? Intrahousehold Valuation, Preference Heterogeneity, and Demand for an Agricultural Technology in India

Date and Location

Monday, October 31, 2016, 4:10 PM - 5:30 PM
ARE Library Conference Room, 4101 Social Sciences and Humanities

Abstract

Both women and men in a household have a potential role in adoption of labor-saving technologies, particularly when the decision influences their labor allocation. Mechanical rice transplanting (MRT) is a technology that reduces labor in transplanting, which is a task primarily reserved for women. I examine the influence of intrahousehold heterogeneity in demand for MRTs on the household’s technology adoption decision. I elicit stated willingness to pay for MRTs from women and men belonging to same households, and measure the household's willingness to pay for the technology by using a village-level experimental auction. Women value MRTs more than men, and this difference is not driven by their individual characteristics. However, household demand is a reflection of men's valuation and women’s bargaining power does not influence the adoption decision.

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