Can Higher Prices Stimulate Product Use? Evidence from a Field Experiment in Zambia

American Economic Review - Tập 100 Số 5 - Trang 2383-2413 - 2010
Nava Ashraf1, James Berry2, Jesse M. Shapiro3
1Harvard Business School, Baker Library 443, Boston, MA 02163.
2Department of Economics, Cornell University, 486 Uris Hall, Ithaca, NY 14853.
3University of Chicago Booth School of Business, 5807 South Woodlawn Avenue, Chicago, IL 60637.

Tóm tắt

The controversy over how much to charge for health products in the developing world rests, in part, on whether higher prices can increase use, either by targeting distribution to high-use households (a screening effect), or by stimulating use psychologically through a sunk-cost effect. We develop a methodology for separating these two effects. We implement the methodology in a field experiment in Zambia using door-to-door marketing of a home water purification solution. We find evidence of economically important screening effects. By contrast, we find no consistent evidence of sunk-cost effects. (JEL C93, D12, I11, M31, O12)

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Thông tin xuất bản

American Economic Review

Tập 100 Số 5

2383-2413

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