Access to Information, Transaction Costs and Marketing Choice of Rural Households between Middlemen and Direct Buyers in Bangladesh

This paper assesses the impact of information cost and other transaction costs on rural producers' discrete choice between selling to middlemen and direct buyers, and continuous choice of selling intensity to middlemen and direct buyers. Using transaction costs economics as an analytical framework to decompose the different origins of transaction costs, the paper empirically investigates the impact of transaction costs on farm households' marketing behaviour in the context of Bangladesh. Empirical findings of this paper suggest that access to information in the form of access to telephone and other form of transaction costs play a significant role in producers' marketing behaviour. For information cost, a unit change in distance to telephone increases the probability of choosing direct buyer over middlemen by more than 4 percent and sales to direct buyer by more than 8 percent.

ACCESS TO INFORMATION AND FACTOR MARKET PARTICIPATION: ADJUSTMENTS OF LAND AND LABOUR MARGINS OF AGRICULTURAL HOUSEHOLDS IN BANGLADESH

This paper assesses the impact of access to information on farm household's factor market participation. The paper tries to answer two questions. First, does use of telephone have any impact on farm household's factor market participation decision? Second, correcting for market participation, does use of telephone have any impact on the type of factor adjustment decision? For the first question, the paper uses a bivariate probit to correct for omitted variable bias and for the second question, the paper uses a two stage probit. Empirical findings of this paper suggest that access to information in the form of use of telephone has significant positive impact on factor market participation. The difference in market participation between telephone users and nonusers is around 14 percent. However, once a household participate in the market, the use of telephone does not have any impact on specific factor market participation.Consumer/Household Economics, Marketing,

Use of ICTs and the Economic Performance of SMEs in East Africa

determinants of aid efforts, generosity, ODA, DAC, donors, G7

The Rise of Supermarkets and Vertical Relationships in the Indonesian Food Value Chain: Causes and Consequences

This paper reviews the causes of the emergence of modern retailing and the vertical relationships in the Indonesian food value chain, and the consequences of these changes on market organization and value distribution. The findings of this paper suggest that there are both demand- and supply-side factors that contribute to the emergence of modern retailing. The evolution of vertical relationships between farmers and modern retailers observed in Indonesia is a direct response to risks and quality uncertainty. In the vertical relation, large-scale retailers may earn a monopsonistic rent, and there are risks of exclusion of small-scale farmers from the emerging food value chain. However, there are alternative channels through which farmers may sell their products, albeit at a lower price compared to the modern channels, and measures can be instituted to protect them against monopsonistic rents. The findings have important policy implications for developing countries.supermarkets, retailing, Indonesia, food value chain

Search cost and rural producers' trading choice between middlemen and consumers in Bangladesh

"This paper assesses the impact of search cost - as proxied by the cost of access to telephones - on small-scale producers' choice between trading with middlemen and trading directly with consumers. The empirical findings suggest that search cost plays a significant role in this choice and that a reduction in search cost increases the likelihood of trading with consumers. This result has important implications related to the provision of public telephones in rural areas of developing countries." -- Author's AbstractPRIFPRI3; ISIMTI

DO DEMOCRACY AND PRESS FREEDOM REDUCE CORRUPTION? EVIDENCE FROM A CROSS COUNTRY STUDY

This paper calls attention to the instrumental role of democracy and press freedom in combating corruption. As opposed to an autocracy with no or limited press freedom, a free press in a democracy can inform voters about the corruption of political representatives, and voters in turn can punish incumbents by electing opposition parties. The empirical investigation carried out in this paper shows that democracy and press freedom can have significant impact on corruption. Though corruption may persist in the short- to medium-run, an increase in voters' participation and press freedom can reduce corruption

Investments in ICT-capital and economic performance of small and medium scale enterprises in East Africa

PRIFPRI3MTI

The effect of democracy and press freedom on corruption: an empirical test

PRIFPRI3; ISI; GovernanceMTI

Attaining universal access in rural areas: business-NGO partnership in Bangladesh as a case study

PRISI; IFPRI3MTI

ACCESS TO INFORMATION AND FACTOR MARKET PARTICIPATION: ADJUSTMENTS OF LAND AND LABOUR MARGINS OF AGRICULTURAL HOUSEHOLDS IN BANGLADESH

This paper assesses the impact of access to information on farm household's factor market participation. The paper tries to answer two questions. First, does use of telephone have any impact on farm household's factor market participation decision? Second, correcting for market participation, does use of telephone have any impact on the type of factor adjustment decision? For the first question, the paper uses a bivariate probit to correct for omitted variable bias and for the second question, the paper uses a two stage probit. Empirical findings of this paper suggest that access to information in the form of use of telephone has significant positive impact on factor market participation. The difference in market participation between telephone users and nonusers is around 14 percent. However, once a household participate in the market, the use of telephone does not have any impact on specific factor market participation