Authors
Maria Jones, Florence Kondylis, John Loeser, Jeremy Magruder
Publication date
2022/7/1
Journal
American Economic Review
Volume
112
Issue
7
Pages
2316-2352
Publisher
American Economic Association
Description
Factor market failures can limit adoption of profitable technologies. We leverage a plot-level spatial regression discontinuity design in the context of irrigation use by farmers provided free access to water. Using irrigation boosts profits by 43–62 percent. Yet, farmers only irrigate 30 percent of plots because of labor costs. We demonstrate inefficient irrigation use, by showing farmers irrigating one plot reduce their irrigation use on other plots. This inefficiency is largest for smaller households and wealthier households, suggesting labor market frictions constrain use of irrigation. (JEL D24, O13, Q12, Q15, Q16)
Total citations
2020202120222023202456161713
Scholar articles
M Jones, F Kondylis, J Loeser, J Magruder - American Economic Review, 2022