Cellphones reduce price variation

The blog "Communications" leads to a study by Robert Jensen on the impact of cellphones on fish marketing and prices in Kerala, India.
Here is an exceprt from the blog:
"The short summary — cellphones improve information flow, which makes markets work better and results in quantifiable benefits for all parties. Waste (~6% of the fish were unsold before cell phones) has been eliminated. Fishermen profits are up 8% and consumer prices are down 4%, directly driving a 20 rupee/person/month consumer surplus, the equivalent of a 2% increase in per-capita GDP from this one market alone."

Jensen's conference presentation can be found here: Seventh Annual NBER-NCAER Neemrana Conference

RAEM