Nonclassical Measurement Error and Farmers’ Response to Information Reveal Behavioral Anomalies

This paper reports on a randomized experiment conducted among Malawian agricultural households to study nonclassical measurement error in self-reported plot area and farmers’ responses to new information (the objective plot area measure) that was p...

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Main Authors: Abay, Kibrom A., Barrett, Christopher B., Kilic, Talip, Moylan, Heather, Ilukor, John, Vundru, Wilbert Drazi
Format: Working Paper
Language:English
Published: World Bank, Washington, DC 2022
Subjects:
Online Access:http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/undefined/737051643050587043/Nonclassical-Measurement-Error-and-Farmers-Response-to-Information-Reveal-Behavioral-Anomalies
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/36879
id okr-10986-36879
recordtype oai_dc
spelling okr-10986-368792022-01-28T05:10:36Z Nonclassical Measurement Error and Farmers’ Response to Information Reveal Behavioral Anomalies Abay, Kibrom A. Barrett, Christopher B. Kilic, Talip Moylan, Heather Ilukor, John Vundru, Wilbert Drazi ASYMMETRIC INFORMATION ASYMMETRIC LEARNING INATTENTION MISPERCEPTION MEASUREMENT ERROR LAND AREA HOUSEHOLD SURVEY This paper reports on a randomized experiment conducted among Malawian agricultural households to study nonclassical measurement error in self-reported plot area and farmers’ responses to new information (the objective plot area measure) that was provided to correct nonclassical measurement error. Farmers' pre-treatment self-reported plot areas exhibit considerable nonclassical measurement error, most of which follows a regression-to-mean pattern with respect to plot area, and another 18 percent of which arises from asymmetric rounding to half-acre increments. Randomized provision of GPS-based measures of true plot area generates four important findings. First, farmers incompletely update mistaken self-reports; most nonclassical measurement error persists even after the provision of true plot area measures. Second, farmers update asymmetrically in response to information, with upward corrections being far more common than downward ones even though most plot sizes were initially overestimated. Third, the magnitude of updating varies by true plot area and the magnitude and direction of initial nonclassical measurement error. Fourth, the information treatment affects self-reported information about non-land inputs, such as fertilizer and labor, indicating that the effects of measurement error and updating spill over across variables. Nonclassical measurement error reflects behavioral anomalies and carries implications for both survey data collection methods and the design of information-based interventions. 2022-01-27T13:48:40Z 2022-01-27T13:48:40Z 2022-01 Working Paper http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/undefined/737051643050587043/Nonclassical-Measurement-Error-and-Farmers-Response-to-Information-Reveal-Behavioral-Anomalies http://hdl.handle.net/10986/36879 English Policy Research Working Paper;No. 9908 CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo World Bank World Bank, Washington, DC Publications & Research Publications & Research :: Policy Research Working Paper Africa Africa Eastern and Southern (AFE) Malawi
repository_type Digital Repository
institution_category Foreign Institution
institution Digital Repositories
building World Bank Open Knowledge Repository
collection World Bank
language English
topic ASYMMETRIC INFORMATION
ASYMMETRIC LEARNING
INATTENTION
MISPERCEPTION
MEASUREMENT ERROR
LAND AREA
HOUSEHOLD SURVEY
spellingShingle ASYMMETRIC INFORMATION
ASYMMETRIC LEARNING
INATTENTION
MISPERCEPTION
MEASUREMENT ERROR
LAND AREA
HOUSEHOLD SURVEY
Abay, Kibrom A.
Barrett, Christopher B.
Kilic, Talip
Moylan, Heather
Ilukor, John
Vundru, Wilbert Drazi
Nonclassical Measurement Error and Farmers’ Response to Information Reveal Behavioral Anomalies
geographic_facet Africa
Africa Eastern and Southern (AFE)
Malawi
relation Policy Research Working Paper;No. 9908
description This paper reports on a randomized experiment conducted among Malawian agricultural households to study nonclassical measurement error in self-reported plot area and farmers’ responses to new information (the objective plot area measure) that was provided to correct nonclassical measurement error. Farmers' pre-treatment self-reported plot areas exhibit considerable nonclassical measurement error, most of which follows a regression-to-mean pattern with respect to plot area, and another 18 percent of which arises from asymmetric rounding to half-acre increments. Randomized provision of GPS-based measures of true plot area generates four important findings. First, farmers incompletely update mistaken self-reports; most nonclassical measurement error persists even after the provision of true plot area measures. Second, farmers update asymmetrically in response to information, with upward corrections being far more common than downward ones even though most plot sizes were initially overestimated. Third, the magnitude of updating varies by true plot area and the magnitude and direction of initial nonclassical measurement error. Fourth, the information treatment affects self-reported information about non-land inputs, such as fertilizer and labor, indicating that the effects of measurement error and updating spill over across variables. Nonclassical measurement error reflects behavioral anomalies and carries implications for both survey data collection methods and the design of information-based interventions.
format Working Paper
author Abay, Kibrom A.
Barrett, Christopher B.
Kilic, Talip
Moylan, Heather
Ilukor, John
Vundru, Wilbert Drazi
author_facet Abay, Kibrom A.
Barrett, Christopher B.
Kilic, Talip
Moylan, Heather
Ilukor, John
Vundru, Wilbert Drazi
author_sort Abay, Kibrom A.
title Nonclassical Measurement Error and Farmers’ Response to Information Reveal Behavioral Anomalies
title_short Nonclassical Measurement Error and Farmers’ Response to Information Reveal Behavioral Anomalies
title_full Nonclassical Measurement Error and Farmers’ Response to Information Reveal Behavioral Anomalies
title_fullStr Nonclassical Measurement Error and Farmers’ Response to Information Reveal Behavioral Anomalies
title_full_unstemmed Nonclassical Measurement Error and Farmers’ Response to Information Reveal Behavioral Anomalies
title_sort nonclassical measurement error and farmers’ response to information reveal behavioral anomalies
publisher World Bank, Washington, DC
publishDate 2022
url http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/undefined/737051643050587043/Nonclassical-Measurement-Error-and-Farmers-Response-to-Information-Reveal-Behavioral-Anomalies
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/36879
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