Can differences in individual learning explain patterns of technology adoption? Evidence on heterogeneous learning patterns and hybrid rice adoption in Bihar, India.

ABSTRACT: Much empirical research that has shown that an individual's decision to adopt a new technology is the result of learning - both in personal experimentation as well as observing the experimentation of others. Yet even casual observation would suggest significant heterogeneity learning processes, manifesting itself in widely varying patterns of adoption over space and time. In this paper we explore this heterogeneity in the context of early adoption of hybrid rice in rural India. Using specially-designed experiments conducted as part of a primary survey in the field, we are able to identify which of four broad learning heuristics most accurately reflects individuals' information processing strategies. Linking these learning heuristics with observed use of rice hybrids, we demonstrate that pu

SUBMITTER: Gars J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6333296 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature