Free Distribution or Cost-Sharing? Evidence from a Randomized Malaria Prevention Experiment
Jessica Cohen and Pascaline Dupas randomised the price at which pregnant women in Kenya could buy insecticide-treated bed nets at prenatal clinics. They found no evidence that charging a positive price reduced wastage, since women who received free nets were not less likely to use them, and no evidence that it selected women who needed nets more. Charging a price did considerably dampen demand, and in a cost-effectiveness analysis that included social returns the authors concluded that free distribution was both more effective and more cost-effective than cost-sharing.
Jessica Cohen and Pascaline Dupas randomised the price at which pregnant women in Kenya could buy insecticide-treated bed nets at prenatal clinics. They found no evidence that charging a positive price reduced wastage, since women who received free nets were not less likely to use them, and no evidence that it selected women who needed nets more. Charging a price did considerably dampen demand, and in a cost-effectiveness analysis that included social returns the authors concluded that free distribution was both more effective and more cost-effective than cost-sharing.
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Cohen, J., & Dupas, P. (2010). Free Distribution or Cost-Sharing? Evidence from a Randomized Malaria Prevention Experiment. Quarterly Journal of Economics, 125(1), 1-45. doi:10.1162/qjec.2010.125.1.1