In order to induce farmers to adopt a productive new agricultural technology, we apply simple and complex contagion diffusion models on rich social network data from 200 villages in Malawi to identify seed farmers to target and train on the new technology. A randomized controlled trial compares...

This article reviews recent results on technology adoption in developing countries, primarily from field experiments. It focuses on studies that highlight three constraints to adoption: credit, insurance, and information. Interventions supplying credit are consistently effective in spurring...