Why do households forego high returns from technology adoption? Evidence from improved cooking stoves in Burkina Faso

What Impedes Efficient Adoption of Products? Evidence from Randomized Sales Offers for Fuel-Efficient Cookstoves in Uganda

“…Liquidity constraints are another plausible reason for the low adoption of beneficial products in developing countries (Bensch, Grimm, and Peters 2015;Devoto et al 2012;Dupas 2011;Mobarak et al 2012;Tarozzi et al 2014). In a related study in different Ugandan rural parishes, we documented willingness to pay-in a within-subject comparison-was on average about 40% higher with time payments (four equal payments over four weeks) than when paying for a new cookstove within a week (Beltramo et al 2015b).…”

“…They found that women exhibit a stronger preference for free stoves-most likely because health benefits accrue to cooks who are generally women-but that, at a low positive price, women became less likely than men to adoptprobably because women control less of household budgets. Bensch, Grimm, and Peters (2015) surveyed randomly selected households in urban Burkina Faso and used propensity score matching to compare purchase rates for otherwise similar households, of fuel-efficient cookstoves at market prices. They found low uptake: only around 10% purchase of fuel-efficient cookstoves.…”

Drivers and Barriers to Clean Cooking: A Systematic Literature Review from a Consumer Behavior Perspective

“…For example, Thurber et al (2014) found little evidence that the attachment to the taste of food cooked on traditional stoves is a significant barrier to adoption of ICS in India and they argue that "barriers to change in cooking habits bay be overstated" [64] (p. 148). Similarly in Burkina-Faso, Bensch et al (2015) did not find evidence that a clear preference for traditional cooking might be responsible for the underinvestment in ICS [94].…”

“…• Local culture [4][5][6]32,39,56,61,62,77,81,82,87,88,[92][93][94] The cooking practices and dietary preferences related to the local culture strongly reduce the adoption of ICS. Traditional food preparation practices are considered important components of cultural identity.…”

Tackling energy, climate and development challenges in Africa

“…Sustainable urban planning has hence a decisive role in shaping African cities and requires investments in energy saving infrastructures, the provision of basic services and the greening of the energy and transport sectors (Creutzig et al, 2016). African cities also play a particularly important role when it comes to decreasing the demand for charcoal (Ahrends et al, 2010, Bensch and Peters, 2013, Bensch et al, 2015. This in turn affects both human health and deforestation.…”