Social Frictions to Knowledge Diffusion: Evidence from an Information Intervention

41 Pages Posted: 20 Jan 2016 Last revised: 12 Apr 2023

See all articles by Arthur Alik-Lagrange

Arthur Alik-Lagrange

University of Toulouse 1 - Toulouse School of Economics (TSE)

Martin Ravallion

Georgetown University

Date Written: January 2016

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.

Suggested Citation

Alik-Lagrange, Arthur and Ravallion, Martin, Social Frictions to Knowledge Diffusion: Evidence from an Information Intervention (January 2016). NBER Working Paper No. w21877, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2717288

Arthur Alik-Lagrange (Contact Author)

University of Toulouse 1 - Toulouse School of Economics (TSE) ( email )

Place Anatole-France
Toulouse Cedex, F-31042
France

Martin Ravallion

Georgetown University ( email )

Washington, DC 20057
United States

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