Determinants of farmers’ willingness to participate in subsidy schemes for pesticide-free buffer zones - a choice experiment study

Tove Christensen; Anders Branth Pedersen; Helle Oersted Nielsen; Morten Raun Mørkbak; Berit Hasler; Sigrid Denver

doi:10.1016/j.ecolecon.2011.03.021

Determinants of farmers’ willingness to participate in subsidy schemes for pesticide-free buffer zones - a choice experiment study

Tove Christensen, Anders Branth Pedersen, Helle Oersted Nielsen , Morten Raun Mørkbak, Berit Hasler, Sigrid Denver

133 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Danish farmers have been far less interested in agri-environmental subsidy schemes (AES) than anticipated. In order to examine how to improve the appeal of such schemes, a choice experiment was conducted concerning 444 Danish farmers’ preferences for subsidy schemes for pesticide-free buffer zones. A random parameter logit framework was used to capture heterogeneity among farmers. Our results indicate that 1) the vast majority of farmers are willing to trade off the size of the subsidy for less restrictive scheme requirements and that 2) the amount of the subsidy they are willing to trade off varies with specific scheme requirements, suggesting which features are most important for successful policy design. Our results suggest that farmers value flexible contract terms higher than reduced administrative burdens. Finally, we suggest a practical approach to estimating a monetary value of farmers’ reluctance to participate in AES. While the trade off's that farmers are willing to make between subsidy size and individual scheme requirements are case specific, our results concerning increased use of farm advisors, farmers ability of valuing different types of flexibility, and our attempt to place a monetary value on farmers’ reluctance to engage in regulatory subsidy schemes have a potentially broader application platform.

Original language	English
Journal	Ecological Economics
Volume	70
Issue number	8
Pages (from-to)	1558-1564
Number of pages	7
ISSN	0921-8009
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2011.03.021
Publication status	Published - 15 Jun 2011

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10.1016/j.ecolecon.2011.03.021

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@article{22e6d290ee2748ca945188f3ceffd665,

title = "Determinants of farmers{\textquoteright} willingness to participate in subsidy schemes for pesticide-free buffer zones - a choice experiment study",

abstract = "Danish farmers have been far less interested in agri-environmental subsidy schemes (AES) than anticipated. In order to examine how to improve the appeal of such schemes, a choice experiment was conducted concerning 444 Danish farmers{\textquoteright} preferences for subsidy schemes for pesticide-free buffer zones. A random parameter logit framework was used to capture heterogeneity among farmers. Our results indicate that 1) the vast majority of farmers are willing to trade off the size of the subsidy for less restrictive scheme requirements and that 2) the amount of the subsidy they are willing to trade off varies with specific scheme requirements, suggesting which features are most important for successful policy design. Our results suggest that farmers value flexible contract terms higher than reduced administrative burdens. Finally, we suggest a practical approach to estimating a monetary value of farmers{\textquoteright} reluctance to participate in AES. While the trade off's that farmers are willing to make between subsidy size and individual scheme requirements are case specific, our results concerning increased use of farm advisors, farmers ability of valuing different types of flexibility, and our attempt to place a monetary value on farmers{\textquoteright} reluctance to engage in regulatory subsidy schemes have a potentially broader application platform. ",

author = "Tove Christensen and Pedersen, {Anders Branth} and Nielsen, {Helle Oersted} and M{\o}rkbak, {Morten Raun} and Berit Hasler and Sigrid Denver",

year = "2011",

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doi = "10.1016/j.ecolecon.2011.03.021",

language = "English",

volume = "70",

pages = "1558--1564",

journal = "Ecological Economics",

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T1 - Determinants of farmers’ willingness to participate in subsidy schemes for pesticide-free buffer zones - a choice experiment study

AU - Christensen, Tove

AU - Pedersen, Anders Branth

AU - Nielsen , Helle Oersted

AU - Mørkbak, Morten Raun

AU - Hasler, Berit

AU - Denver, Sigrid

PY - 2011/6/15

Y1 - 2011/6/15

N2 - Danish farmers have been far less interested in agri-environmental subsidy schemes (AES) than anticipated. In order to examine how to improve the appeal of such schemes, a choice experiment was conducted concerning 444 Danish farmers’ preferences for subsidy schemes for pesticide-free buffer zones. A random parameter logit framework was used to capture heterogeneity among farmers. Our results indicate that 1) the vast majority of farmers are willing to trade off the size of the subsidy for less restrictive scheme requirements and that 2) the amount of the subsidy they are willing to trade off varies with specific scheme requirements, suggesting which features are most important for successful policy design. Our results suggest that farmers value flexible contract terms higher than reduced administrative burdens. Finally, we suggest a practical approach to estimating a monetary value of farmers’ reluctance to participate in AES. While the trade off's that farmers are willing to make between subsidy size and individual scheme requirements are case specific, our results concerning increased use of farm advisors, farmers ability of valuing different types of flexibility, and our attempt to place a monetary value on farmers’ reluctance to engage in regulatory subsidy schemes have a potentially broader application platform.

AB - Danish farmers have been far less interested in agri-environmental subsidy schemes (AES) than anticipated. In order to examine how to improve the appeal of such schemes, a choice experiment was conducted concerning 444 Danish farmers’ preferences for subsidy schemes for pesticide-free buffer zones. A random parameter logit framework was used to capture heterogeneity among farmers. Our results indicate that 1) the vast majority of farmers are willing to trade off the size of the subsidy for less restrictive scheme requirements and that 2) the amount of the subsidy they are willing to trade off varies with specific scheme requirements, suggesting which features are most important for successful policy design. Our results suggest that farmers value flexible contract terms higher than reduced administrative burdens. Finally, we suggest a practical approach to estimating a monetary value of farmers’ reluctance to participate in AES. While the trade off's that farmers are willing to make between subsidy size and individual scheme requirements are case specific, our results concerning increased use of farm advisors, farmers ability of valuing different types of flexibility, and our attempt to place a monetary value on farmers’ reluctance to engage in regulatory subsidy schemes have a potentially broader application platform.

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