Abstract
The way in which a product is distributed can have lasting effects on demand by influencing learning, anchoring price expectations, and shaping perceptions of product value. While these issues apply broadly, they are particularly important for health products in poor countries, where short-term subsidies are common, similar products are often available through both non-profit and for-profit organizations, and expanding access is an important public health goal. We implemented a field experiment in northern Uganda in which three curative health products were distributed door-to-door either free or for sale and by either an NGO or for-profit company. For all three products, subsequent purchase rates were lower after a free distribution. While we see no difference in subsequent purchase rates based on seller type, we find that contemporaneous demand for a newly introduced product is higher when the seller identifies as a not-for-profit organization.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 110-124 |
| Number of pages | 15 |
| Journal | Journal of Development Economics |
| Volume | 137 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Mar 2019 |
Funding
The authors thank London School of Economics and Yale University for funding, Adam Alagiah, Erika Deserranno, Trina Gorman, Hideto Koizumi, Samuel Olweny and Indrani Saran for excellent research assistance and management of the field work, and Gharad Bryan, Jessica Cohen, Robin Burgess, Pascaline Dupas, Paul Gertler, Gerard Padró i Miquel, Chris Udry, Tom Wilkening and participants in various seminars and conferences for comments. Human subjects approval was obtained from the Institutional Review Boards at Yale (#1105008448) and Innovations for Poverty Action (487.11May-001). All opinions and errors are ours.
Keywords
- Health
- Learning
- Pricing
- Subsidies
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Development
- Economics and Econometrics