TY  - JOUR
AU  - Ashraf,Nava
AU  - Berry,James
AU  - Shapiro,Jesse M.
TI  - Can Higher Prices Stimulate Product Use?  Evidence from a Field Experiment in Zambia
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 13247
PY  - 2007
Y2  - July 2007
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w13247
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w13247.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
Nava Ashraf
Harvard Business School
Baker Library 443
Soldiers Field
Boston, MA 02163
Tel: 617/495-5058
Fax: 617/495-6537
E-Mail: nashraf@hbs.edu

James Berry
Department of Economics
Cornell University
486 Uris Hall
Ithaca, NY 14853
E-Mail: jimberry@cornell.edu

Jesse M. Shapiro
University of Chicago
Booth School of Business
5807 S. Woodlawn Avenue
Chicago, IL 60637
Tel: 773/834-2688
Fax: 773-753-0563
E-Mail: jmshapir@uchicago.edu
AB  - The controversy over whether and how much to charge for health products in the developing world rests, in part, on whether higher prices can increase use, either by targeting distribution to high-use households (a screening effect), or by stimulating use psychologically through a sunk-cost effect. We develop a methodology for separating these two effects. We implement the methodology in a field experiment in Zambia using door-to-door marketing of a home water purification solution. We find that higher prices screen out those who use the product less. By contrast, we find no consistent evidence of sunk-cost effects.
ER  -