Working Paper: NBER ID: w27192
Authors: Apoorv Gupta; Jacopo Ponticelli; Andrea Tesei
Abstract: We study the effect of language barriers on the ability of farmers to access information about agricultural technologies in rural areas of India. We use call- level data from a government-sponsored call center for agricultural advice offered in different languages across Indian states. Exploiting differences in the language spoken by farmers and call center advisors, we document that language barriers limit the adoption of modern agricultural technologies—such as high-yielding variety seeds. We find no impact of language barriers on agricultural productivity within five years from introduction of call centers, although small but significant differences arise in the longer run.
Keywords: Language Barriers; Technology Adoption; Productivity; Agriculture; India
JEL Codes: O33; O4; Q16; Q55
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| language barriers (J82) | number of calls to KCC (L96) |
| language barriers (J82) | adoption rate of high-yielding variety (HYV) seeds (Q16) |
| language barriers (J82) | adoption of fertilizers and irrigation technologies (Q16) |
| language barriers (J82) | agricultural productivity (Q11) |