IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jeeman/v138y2026ics009506962600063x.html

Smallholders’ willingness to pay for information: A comparison of individual purchase decisions with contributions to a club good. Evidence from Indonesian rice farmers

Author

Listed:
  • Grimm, Michael
  • Luck, Nathalie
  • Raya, Alia Bihrajihant
  • Sawhney, Udit

Abstract

Soil tests provide information that can help farmers optimize their inputs. This can reduce costs, increase yields and profits, and contribute to sustainable soil health. Yet soil tests are rarely used by small-scale farmers and are typically not offered by extension workers. Instead, high hopes are pinned on a market-based dissemination. In this study, we elicit small-scale farmers' willingness-to-pay (WTP) for rapid, low-cost soil tests using incentive-compatible auctions. Additionally, we test whether randomized participation in a sustainable soil management training can increase farmers’ WTP. Furthermore, we elicit WTP in an alternative setting by measuring the willingness to contribute to the costs of a soil test kit when entire farmer groups are offered kits containing 50 tests. The average WTP for soil tests amounts to 39% of the market price and is not statistically different if soil tests are offered to groups where free riding is possible. Participants who were exposed to prior training do not exhibit a higher WTP per test. Data collected five months after the WTP experiment indicate an association between soil testing and reduced use of inorganic fertilizers—particularly nitrogen—as well as more sustainable input management in the context characterized by prevalent overuse. Our results can guide the integration of subsidized soil tests into extension programs.

Suggested Citation

  • Grimm, Michael & Luck, Nathalie & Raya, Alia Bihrajihant & Sawhney, Udit, 2026. "Smallholders’ willingness to pay for information: A comparison of individual purchase decisions with contributions to a club good. Evidence from Indonesian rice farmers," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 138(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jeeman:v:138:y:2026:i:c:s009506962600063x
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jeem.2026.103343
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S009506962600063X
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jeem.2026.103343?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    • H23 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Externalities; Redistributive Effects; Environmental Taxes and Subsidies
    • O13 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Agriculture; Natural Resources; Environment; Other Primary Products
    • O33 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes
    • Q16 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - R&D; Agricultural Technology; Biofuels; Agricultural Extension Services
    • Q57 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Ecological Economics

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:jeeman:v:138:y:2026:i:c:s009506962600063x. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/inca/622870 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.