Misperceptions and product choice: evidence from a randomised trial in Zambia

Do misperceptions deter small retailers from stocking profitable products?

From:
Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office
Published
24 October 2025
Country:
Zambia
Document Type:
Working Paper
Theme:
Economic Growth
First published:
8 November 2025
Authors:
Bai, J., Shenoy, A. and Park D. S.

Abstract

The authors apply unsupervised machine learning to the inventories of 2000 shops in Lusaka, Zambia, to identify clusters of similar retailers and flag a “target” product, one stocked by some but not all shops in a cluster.

This paper is part of the Private Enterprise Development in Low-Income Countries (PEDL) programme.

Citation

Bai J and others. ‘Misperceptions and product choice: evidence from a randomised trial in Zambia’ PEDL Working Paper, 2025

Misperceptions and product choice: evidence from a randomised trial in Zambia

Updates to this page

Published 24 October 2025
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