“…Asymmetric information is ubiquitous across the developing world and often leads to suboptimal outcomes for the rural poor there (World Bank, 2004;Wild et al, 2012). This asymmetric information can be leveraged by rent seeking government agents (Muralidharan et al, 2021;Ferraz and Finan, 2011;Bandiera et al, 2009;Chaudhury et al, 2006;Reinikka and Svensson, 2004) or private agents (Kelley et al, 2021;Aker, 2010;Svensson and Yanagizawa, 2009;Jensen, 2007). This asymmetric information also means potential gains from trade go untapped, and may lead to sub-optimal outcomes for both poor consumers and agents in steady state.…”