Working Papers
Informed Climate Adaptation: Input and Output Subsidies for Shaded Cocoa. (with Jiayue Zhang)
[ Working Paper | Development Impact Blog | IGC Blog | PEDL | AEA Registry ]
Abstract
With growing climate risks, agro-environmental policies seek to protect the environment while reducing poverty by incentivizing climate adaptation. We study how information shapes adaptation under different subsidy schemes for cocoa farmers in Ghana, where forest tree planting for shade is encouraged as an adaptation strategy. Conducting a lab-in-the-field experiment, we compare the impacts of an information intervention under an input subsidy for planting forest trees and an output subsidy for producing cocoa beans from shaded farms. While farmers receiving the information in both subsidy groups plant more forest trees than their subsidy-only counterparts, the increase is higher under the output subsidy than the input subsidy even though the information leads both groups to similarly update their beliefs about the benefits of shade. We rationalize the differential effects of information with a model in which beliefs about rainfall uncertainty and shade benefits affect ex ante input decisions. Counterfactuals show that output subsidy has greater potential to drive adaptation than input when beliefs are reasonably correct. We validate the lab results by distributing tree seedlings, finding consistent treatment effects on the number of seedlings requested and obtained.Presented at (selected): MWIEDC 2025*, CASE Conference 2025*, All-IGC Meeting, AERE Summer 2024, EPG 2024, ISSER University of Ghana
Credit Constraint and Green Energy Adoption: Evidence from Small Firms in Kenya. (with Jiayue Zhang and Wycliffe Oluoch)
[ PEDL Summary | AEA Registry ]
Local Favoritism and Environmental Regulation: Evidence from China. (with Xiaowei Zhang and Tiemeng Ma)
[ 2024 EPG Best Poster Award ]
Intergenerational Impact of Land Property Rights: Evidence from Land Certification Reform in Rural China.
(New draft soon!)
Selected Work in Progress
Information Nudge on Social and Private Benefit, and Impact on Adaptation. (with Ming Li, Jia Xiang, and Jiayue Zhang)
[ AEA Registry]
Local Knowledge or Misallocation: Efficiency Costs of Discretion in Regulatory Enforcement. (with Ruozi Song and Bing Zhang)
Funded by: World Bank