Intertemporal Choice and Income Regularity: Non-Fungibility in the Timing of Income Among Kenyan Farmers

The optimal design of informal contracts in agricultural value chains depends on when farmers prefer to be paid for their output. While the evidence from the time preference experiments suggests a preference for early payments, ?eld studies often indicate that farmers will defer regular payments if...

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Main Authors: International Food Policy Research Institute, Tinbergen Institute, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
Format: Conjunto de datos
Language:Inglés
Published: International Food Policy Research Institute 2021
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/144423
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author International Food Policy Research Institute
Tinbergen Institute, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
author_browse International Food Policy Research Institute
Tinbergen Institute, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
author_facet International Food Policy Research Institute
Tinbergen Institute, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
author_sort International Food Policy Research Institute
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description The optimal design of informal contracts in agricultural value chains depends on when farmers prefer to be paid for their output. While the evidence from the time preference experiments suggests a preference for early payments, ?eld studies often indicate that farmers will defer regular payments if given the opportunity. In this study, we explicitly test whether farmers are more patient regarding regular, earned income than regarding experimental windfall payments. We asked farmers in a dairy cooperative in Kenya to allocate both their milk income and a one-time gift between an early and a deferred payment date. We ?nd that a large majority of participants deferred their milk payments, while rarely choosing to defer the gift. Participants? survey responses suggest that we observe this di?erence because of mental accounting: participants earmarked their regular milk payments, but not the gift, to save for bulky expenditures. We conclude that deferred payments can provide value to producers by functioning as a savings device, even when decisions over windfall income suggest a preference for early payments. We are sharing the data collected through this experiment as well as our do-files for replication and further analysis purposes.
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spelling CGSpace1444232025-12-08T10:06:44Z Intertemporal Choice and Income Regularity: Non-Fungibility in the Timing of Income Among Kenyan Farmers International Food Policy Research Institute Tinbergen Institute, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam value chains income supply chains field experimentation marketing markets dairying The optimal design of informal contracts in agricultural value chains depends on when farmers prefer to be paid for their output. While the evidence from the time preference experiments suggests a preference for early payments, ?eld studies often indicate that farmers will defer regular payments if given the opportunity. In this study, we explicitly test whether farmers are more patient regarding regular, earned income than regarding experimental windfall payments. We asked farmers in a dairy cooperative in Kenya to allocate both their milk income and a one-time gift between an early and a deferred payment date. We ?nd that a large majority of participants deferred their milk payments, while rarely choosing to defer the gift. Participants? survey responses suggest that we observe this di?erence because of mental accounting: participants earmarked their regular milk payments, but not the gift, to save for bulky expenditures. We conclude that deferred payments can provide value to producers by functioning as a savings device, even when decisions over windfall income suggest a preference for early payments. We are sharing the data collected through this experiment as well as our do-files for replication and further analysis purposes. 2021 2024-06-04T09:44:10Z 2024-06-04T09:44:10Z Dataset https://hdl.handle.net/10568/144423 en https://doi.org/10.1080/00220388.2019.1632436 https://hdl.handle.net/10568/147901 Open Access International Food Policy Research Institute International Food Policy Research Institute; Tinbergen Institute, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. 2021. Intertemporal Choice and Income Regularity: Non-Fungibility in the Timing of Income Among Kenyan Farmers. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute. https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/0KKKUS. Harvard Dataverse. Version 1.
spellingShingle value chains
income
supply chains
field experimentation
marketing
markets
dairying
International Food Policy Research Institute
Tinbergen Institute, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
Intertemporal Choice and Income Regularity: Non-Fungibility in the Timing of Income Among Kenyan Farmers
title Intertemporal Choice and Income Regularity: Non-Fungibility in the Timing of Income Among Kenyan Farmers
title_full Intertemporal Choice and Income Regularity: Non-Fungibility in the Timing of Income Among Kenyan Farmers
title_fullStr Intertemporal Choice and Income Regularity: Non-Fungibility in the Timing of Income Among Kenyan Farmers
title_full_unstemmed Intertemporal Choice and Income Regularity: Non-Fungibility in the Timing of Income Among Kenyan Farmers
title_short Intertemporal Choice and Income Regularity: Non-Fungibility in the Timing of Income Among Kenyan Farmers
title_sort intertemporal choice and income regularity non fungibility in the timing of income among kenyan farmers
topic value chains
income
supply chains
field experimentation
marketing
markets
dairying
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/144423
work_keys_str_mv AT internationalfoodpolicyresearchinstitute intertemporalchoiceandincomeregularitynonfungibilityinthetimingofincomeamongkenyanfarmers
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