figshare
Browse
fjds_a_1404034_sm4819.pdf (533.11 kB)

Eliciting Risk Attitudes in the Field: Surveys or Experimental Methods? An Empirical Comparison in Rural Niger

Download (533.11 kB)
journal contribution
posted on 2017-11-27, 05:38 authored by Awa Sanou, Lenis Saweda O. Liverpool-Tasie, Robert Shupp

We compare several risk preference elicitation methods – including incentivised, non-incentivised, and framed methods as well as a traditional Likert survey question – in a developing country and empirically test how well consequent measures of risk attitudes predict risk taking behaviour. We find that Likert scale and non-incentivised framed survey questions are not sufficient substitutes for costlier incentivised methods in rural Niger. Instead, the incentivised framed question works best while a simplified incentivised lottery question works almost as well. More risk and ambiguity averse farmers are less likely to adopt fertiliser microdosing indicating the importance of insurance and strategies to promote learning.

Funding

This work was supported by the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources and the African Studies Center at Michigan State University. The author(s) further appreciate the support of Michigan State University AgBioResearch.

History