Smallholder farmers and small-scale traders who do not have access to moisture measurement tools may not be able to fully observe moisture content in their grain. However, encouraging the adoption of these tools is important for food safety, because growth of dangerous toxins can be prevented by drying grain to 13.5% moisture content or below before storage. Several low-cost devices have recently been developed that can accurately test moisture content in maize. In this article, we first estimate the demand for two such devices among smallholder farmers and small-scale traders in Western Kenya. Second, we measure the impact of individuals’ risk aversion on willingness to pay for these devices. Third, we measure framing effects in experimental auctions by eliciting valuations with increasing and decreasing price lists. We found that more than 80% of respondents were willing to pay more than the wholesale price for the cheaper of the two devices. Farmers in our sample, who were growing maize primarily for own consumption, were willing to pay more than traders. Individuals who were more risk-averse reported a slightly higher willingness-to-pay for these risk-reducing devices. Finally, farmers—but not traders—were sensitive to framing effects: mean bids elicited with a decreasing price list during the auction were 37% higher than those with an increasing price list.

中文翻译：

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考虑到风险偏好，愿意为新的农业技术支付费用：来自肯尼亚实验性拍卖的证据

无法使用水分测量工具的小农和小规模贸易商可能无法完全观察其谷物中的水分含量。然而，鼓励采用这些工具对食品安全很重要，因为在储存前将谷物干燥至 13.5% 或更低的水分含量可以防止危险毒素的生长。最近开发了几种低成本设备，可以准确测试玉米中的水分含量。在本文中，我们首先估算了肯尼亚西部小农和小商贩对两种此类设备的需求。其次，我们衡量个人风险规避对购买这些设备的意愿的影响。第三，我们通过增加和减少价目表的估值来衡量实验性拍卖中的框架效应。我们发现超过 80% 的受访者愿意为两种设备中较便宜的设备支付高于批发价的价格。我们样本中的农民种植玉米主要是为了自己消费，他们愿意支付比贸易商更多的费用。更厌恶风险的个人对这些降低风险的设备的支付意愿略高。最后，农民——但不是贸易商——对框架效应很敏感：拍卖期间价格下降的平均出价比价格上涨的平均出价高 37%。更厌恶风险的个人对这些降低风险的设备的支付意愿略高。最后，农民——但不是贸易商——对框架效应很敏感：拍卖期间价格下降的平均出价比价格上涨的平均出价高 37%。更厌恶风险的个人对这些降低风险的设备的支付意愿略高。最后，农民——但不是贸易商——对框架效应很敏感：拍卖期间价格下降的平均出价比价格上涨的平均出价高 37%。