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Article History

Received: 18 December 2023

Accepted: 15 January 2025

First Online: 9 February 2025

Ethical approval

: The study (including a survey and economic experiments) was approved by Hitotsubashi University Research Ethics Screening Committee on 3rd March 2021. The ethical approval was obtained well in advance before the implementation of the study. The ethical approval number is: 2020C018. The ethical approval was specifically for conducting field research with farmers. The field research was conducted in accordance with the relevant ethical guidelines. The ethical approval was obtained from Hitotsubashi University in Japan because all the researchers involved in this project are affiliated with Hitotsubashi University. Furthermore, the ethics committee at the university has robust protocols for ensuring that the research adheres to the international standards. Moreover, we also shared our study details with the local organization Zarai Taraqiati Bank (ZTBL) in Pakistan. The bank checked these details and allowed us to conduct the study. ZTBL also guided us to its relevant branch in Gujranwala where we conducted our study with ZTBL’s existing borrowers.

: The informed oral consent from all participants (farmers) was obtained by the experimenter on the day experiments were conducted. The experimenter read the same consent form to all participants in the local language Urdu. The form had all the details of the study including purpose, confidentiality of participants, data management, publication of results, and risks and rewards. Once a participant gave consent to participate, the experimenter ticked the box indicating oral consent form was granted by the participant. We administered oral consent because farmers in Pakistan are generally not qualified enough to read the consent form on their own. The participants were paid a fix participation fee of 500 rupees plus the additional money they earned during the experiment eliciting preferences. The total money earned (participation fee and money earned during the experiment) was paid in cash to the participants as soon as their survey was over. A payment slip containing the details of the participant and his signature or fingerprint (in case the participant did not know how to write) was also obtained.

: The authors declare no competing interests.