Working Paper: NBER ID: w21877
Authors: Arthur Aliklagrange; Martin Ravallion
Abstract: Does knowledge about antipoverty programs spread quickly within poor communities or are there significant frictions, such as due to social exclusion? We combine longitudinal and intra-household observations in estimating the direct knowledge gain from watching an information movie in rural India, while randomized village assignment identifies knowledge sharing with those in treatment villages who did not watch the movie. Knowledge is found to be shared within villages, but less so among illiterate and lower caste individuals, especially when also poor; these groups relied more on actually seeing the movie. Sizable biases are evident in impact estimators that ignore knowledge spillovers.
Keywords: Knowledge Diffusion; Antipoverty Programs; Information Intervention; Social Frictions
JEL Codes: D83; I38; O12
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| Knowledge gain (D80) | Knowledge diffusion within villages (O36) |
| Watching the information movie (Y20) | Spillover effects on knowledge (O36) |
| Spillover effects on knowledge (O36) | Benefits for individuals who did not watch the movie (G40) |
| Watching the information movie (Y20) | Direct impact for poorer individuals (F61) |
| Negative spillover effects (D62) | Misinformation spread among illiterate and landless households (D83) |
| Barriers in accessing information (L86) | Less knowledge among illiterate and lower-caste individuals (I24) |
| Watching the information movie (Y20) | Knowledge gain (D80) |