1. To Charge or Not to Charge: Evidence from a Health Products Experiment in Uganda
- Author:
- Dean Karlan, Pia Raffler, Greg Fischer, and Margaret McConnell
- Publication Date:
- 11-2014
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Center for Global Development
- Abstract:
- In a field experiment in Uganda, we find that demand after a free distribution of three health products is lower than after a sale distribution. This contrasts with work on insecticide-treated bed nets, highlighting the importance of product characteristics in determining pricing policy. We put forward a model to illustrate the potential tension between two important factors, learning and anchoring, and then test this model with three products selected specifically for their variation in the scope for learning. We find the rank order of shifts in demand matches with the theoretical prediction, although the differences are not statistically significant.
- Topic:
- Development and Health
- Political Geography:
- Uganda and Africa