Do Incentives matter for Knowledge Diffusion? Experimental Evidence from Uganda

Many development interventions involve training of beneficiaries, based on the assumption that knowledge and skills will spread “automatically” among a wider target population. However, diffusion of knowledge (or innovations) can be slow and incomplete. We use a randomized field experiment in Uganda to assess the impact of providing incentives for knowledge diffusion, and pay trained individuals a fee if they share knowledge obtained during a financial literacy training. Our main results are that incentives increase knowledge sharing, and that it may be cost-effective to provide such incentives. We also document an absence of assortative matching in the social learning process.