Signaling quality in informal markets. Evidence from an experimental auction in the Sahel

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cg.authorship.typesCGIAR and developing country instituteen_US
cg.contributor.affiliationPurdue Universityen_US
cg.contributor.affiliationInstitut National de la Recherche Agronomique du Nigeren_US
cg.contributor.affiliationInternational Institute of Tropical Agricultureen_US
cg.contributor.crpMaizeen_US
cg.contributor.crpPolicies, Institutions, and Marketsen_US
cg.contributor.crpRoots, Tubers and Bananasen_US
cg.contributor.donorBill & Melinda Gates Foundationen_US
cg.contributor.donorCGIAR Trust Funden_US
cg.contributor.initiativeClimate Resilienceen_US
cg.coverage.countryNigeren_US
cg.coverage.countryNigeriaen_US
cg.coverage.iso3166-alpha2NEen_US
cg.coverage.iso3166-alpha2NGen_US
cg.coverage.regionAfricaen_US
cg.coverage.regionWestern Africaen_US
cg.creator.identifierTahirou Abdoulaye: 0000-0002-8072-1363en_US
cg.howPublishedFormally Publisheden_US
cg.identifier.doihttps://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodpol.2024.102774en_US
cg.identifier.iitathemeSOCIAL SCIENCE & AGRICUSINESSen_US
cg.isijournalISI Journalen_US
cg.issn0306-9192en_US
cg.issue102774en_US
cg.journalFood Policyen_US
cg.reviewStatusPeer Reviewen_US
cg.subject.actionAreaSystems Transformationen_US
cg.subject.iitaAGRIBUSINESSen_US
cg.subject.iitaFARMING SYSTEMSen_US
cg.subject.iitaFOOD SECURITYen_US
cg.subject.iitaCLIMATE CHANGEen_US
cg.subject.impactAreaNutrition, health and food securityen_US
cg.subject.impactPlatformNutrition, Health and Food Securityen_US
cg.subject.sdgSDG 2 - Zero hungeren_US
cg.volume130en_US
dc.contributor.authorRicker-Gilbert, J.en_US
dc.contributor.authorMoussa, B.en_US
dc.contributor.authorAbdoulaye, T.en_US
dc.date.accessioned2025-01-16T10:58:15Zen_US
dc.date.available2025-01-16T10:58:15Zen_US
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10568/169223en_US
dc.titleSignaling quality in informal markets. Evidence from an experimental auction in the Sahelen_US
dcterms.abstractThis study estimates the extent to which rural consumers in sub-Saharan Africa value quality signals about their food. We tested this by implementing an incentive-compatible Becker-Degroot Marschak auction among consumers in Niger and Northern Nigeria to estimate their willingness to pay (WTP) for cowpea (blackeyed pea) that was stored and sold in an improved grain storage bag that signaled unobservable quality in the form of insecticide-free grain. The improved bag had two inner layers of high-density plastic that created an airtight seal around the grain stored in it. The seal killed insects through suffocation rather than insecticide. The bag also had a branded label from its manufacturer on its outer layer to help distinguish it from a generic single-layer, woven storage bag. We estimated the size of the price differential (premium) that the average consumer placed on unobservable grain quality, as measured through the WTP premium for grain sold in the improved bag with a label. We also estimated the effect that consumers’ previous awareness of the improved bag had on their valuation of observable and unobservable quality. Our results indicated that on average consumers in Niger were willing to pay a 10% premium for cowpea stored and sold in the improved storage bag compared to cowpea of the same observable quality that was sold in a generic woven bag. The same unobservable quality premium was 17% in Nigeria. The results from this study provide evidence that there may be a latent demand for quality proxied by food safety among limited resource people in sub-Saharan Africa and that improved products with branded labels can potentially provide a quality signal to the market.en_US
dcterms.accessRightsOpen Accessen_US
dcterms.audienceScientistsen_US
dcterms.available2024-12-17en_US
dcterms.bibliographicCitationRicker-Gilbert, J., Moussa, B. & Abdoulaye, T. (2025). Signaling quality in informal markets. Evidence from an experimental auction in the Sahel. Food Policy, 130: 102774, 1-14.en_US
dcterms.descriptionOpen Access Articleen_US
dcterms.extent1-14en_US
dcterms.issued2025-01en_US
dcterms.languageenen_US
dcterms.licenseCC-BY-4.0en_US
dcterms.subjectexperimentationen_US
dcterms.subjectauctionsen_US
dcterms.subjectstorageen_US
dcterms.subjectbrandingen_US
dcterms.subjectlabellingen_US
dcterms.subjectsub-saharan africaen_US
dcterms.typeJournal Articleen_US

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