Aker, Jenny C.Fafchamps, Marcel2014-08-152014-08-152014-07https://hdl.handle.net/10986/19386Mobile phone coverage has expanded considerably throughout the developing world, particularly within sub-Saharan Africa. Existing evidence suggests that increased access to information technology has improved agricultural market efficiency for consumer markets and certain commodities, but there is less evidence of its impact on producer markets. Building on the work of Aker (2010), this paper estimates the impact of mobile phone coverage on producer price dispersion for three commodities in Niger. The results suggest that mobile phone coverage reduces spatial producer price dispersion by 6 percent for cowpea, a semi-perishable commodity. These effects are strongest for remote markets and during certain periods of the year. The introduction of mobile phone coverage has no effect on producer price dispersion for millet and sorghum, two staple grains that are less perishable and are commonly stored by farmers. There are no impacts of mobile phone coverage on traders' gross margins or producer price levels, but mobile phone coverage is associated with a reduction in the intra-annual price variation for cowpea. These results are potentially explained by the fact that farmers engage in greater storage for storable commodities such as millet and sorghum.en-USCC BY 3.0 IGOACCESS TO INFORMATIONACCESS TO INFORMATION TECHNOLOGYAGRICULTURAL COMMODITYARBITRAGEAVERAGE PRICEAVERAGE PRICESBUYERSCELL PHONECELLULAR NETWORKSCOMMODITIESCOMMODITYCOMPETITIVE MARKETSCONSUMER MARKETCONSUMER MARKETSCONSUMER PRICECONSUMER PRICE INDEXCONSUMER PRICESCOORDINATION FAILURESCOST REDUCTIONDEMOGRAPHICDIGITAL DIVIDEDIRECT ACCESSECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTEQUILIBRIUM PRICEEXCHANGE RATEEXOGENOUS SUPPLYFAIRGEOGRAPHIC REGIONSGEOGRAPHICAL AREASGROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCTHOME MARKETHUMAN DEVELOPMENTINCOMEINFORMATION ACQUISITIONINFORMATION FLOWSINFORMATION SERVICEINFORMATION SYSTEMINFORMED TRADERINFORMED TRADERSINSURANCE INDUSTRYINTERNATIONAL BANKINTERNATIONAL ECONOMICSINTERNATIONAL TRADELABOR MARKETLAND OWNERSHIPLIFE INSURANCELIMITED ACCESSLOCAL MARKETLOCAL MARKETSMARKET ACCESSMARKET BEHAVIORMARKET CONDITIONSMARKET EFFICIENCYMARKET INFORMATIONMARKET INTEGRATIONMARKET LEVELMARKET PERFORMANCEMARKET PRICEMARKET PRICESMARKET SIZEMARKET STRUCTUREMARKET SURVEYMARKETINGMISSING DATAMISSING VALUESMOBILE PHONEMOBILE PHONE SUBSCRIBERSMOBILE PHONESNETWORKSONLINE DATABASESOPEN ACCESSOUTPUTPHONE NETWORKSPOLITICAL ECONOMYPRICE ELASTICITY OF DEMANDPRICE FLUCTUATIONPRICE FLUCTUATIONSPRICE INFORMATIONPRICE LEVELPRICE LEVELSPRICE RISKPRICE SPREADPRICE TRENDSPRICE VARIATIONPRIVATE SECTORPRIVATE SECTOR INVESTMENTPRODUCER PRICEPRODUCER PRICESPROFIT MARGINRADIORAW DATARESULTRESULTSRETAILRETURNSRURAL MARKETSALESSEARCHSERVICE PROVIDERSSINGLE MARKETSPREADSTOCKSSUBSISTENCE FARMERSSUPPLIERSSUPPLY CHAINSURPLUSTAXTERRORISMTIME PERIODTIME PERIODSTRADINGUSESWEBWHOLESALE MARKETWHOLESALERSWORKING CAPITAL10.1596/1813-9450-6986