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Gender bias in consumer perceptions: The case of agro-input dealers in Uganda

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Title Gender bias in consumer perceptions: The case of agro-input dealers in Uganda
 
Creator De, Anusha
Miehe, Caroline
Campenhout, Bjorn van
 
Subject gender
consumer attitudes
farmers
gender norms
discrimination
 
Description Faced with incomplete and imperfect information, economic actors rely predominantly on perceptions and often base decisions on heuristics prone to bias. Gender bias in perceptions favoring men has been found in a wide variety of settings and may be an important reason why some sectors remain dominated by men and gender gaps persist. Using ratings of agro-input dealers provided by smallholder farmers in their vicinity, we test if farmers perceive male-managed agro-input shops differently than agro-input shops managed by women. After controlling for observable characteristics at the input dealer level and including fixed effects to account for farmer-level heterogeneity, we find that farmers rate male-managed agro-input outlets higher on a range of attributes related to the dealership in general, as well as when farmers are asked to consider the quality of inputs sold by the dealer. Our results suggest that consumers' biased perceptions continue to be an important entry barrier for women in the subsector, and we conclude that policies and interventions designed to challenge gender norms and customs are needed to correct bias in perceptions.
 
Date 2022-07-22
2023-01-24T18:53:46Z
2023-01-24T18:53:46Z
 
Type Working Paper
 
Identifier De, Anusha; Miehe, Caroline; and Van Campenhout, Bjorn. 2022. Gender bias in consumer perceptions: The case of agro-input dealers in Uganda. IFPRI Discussion Paper 2132. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). https://doi.org/10.2499/p15738coll2.136307
https://hdl.handle.net/10568/128118
https://doi.org/10.2499/p15738coll2.136307
 
Language en
 
Relation IFPRI Discussion Paper
 
Rights Copyrighted; all rights reserved
Open Access
 
Format application/pdf
 
Publisher International Food Policy Research Institute