The role of behavioural factors and opportunity costs in farmers' participation in voluntary agri-environmental schemes: A systematic review

Agri-environmental schemes (AESs) are increasingly implemented to promote the adoption of environmentally friendly practices by farmers. We use a systematic review to explore the role of behavioural factors and opportunity costs in farmers' decisions to participate in AESs in Australia, Europe and N...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Schaub, Sergei, Ghazoul, Jaboury, Huber, Robert, Zhang, Wei, Sander, Adelaide, Rees, Charles, Banerjee, Simanti, Finger, Robert
Format: Journal Article
Language:Inglés
Published: Wiley 2023
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/140425
_version_ 1855537995195613184
author Schaub, Sergei
Ghazoul, Jaboury
Huber, Robert
Zhang, Wei
Sander, Adelaide
Rees, Charles
Banerjee, Simanti
Finger, Robert
author_browse Banerjee, Simanti
Finger, Robert
Ghazoul, Jaboury
Huber, Robert
Rees, Charles
Sander, Adelaide
Schaub, Sergei
Zhang, Wei
author_facet Schaub, Sergei
Ghazoul, Jaboury
Huber, Robert
Zhang, Wei
Sander, Adelaide
Rees, Charles
Banerjee, Simanti
Finger, Robert
author_sort Schaub, Sergei
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Agri-environmental schemes (AESs) are increasingly implemented to promote the adoption of environmentally friendly practices by farmers. We use a systematic review to explore the role of behavioural factors and opportunity costs in farmers' decisions to participate in AESs in Australia, Europe and North America. Behavioural factors influence how farmers value and perceive options, while opportunity costs relate to farmers' forgone utility when choosing to participate in schemes. We synthesise insights from 79 articles and over 700 factors explaining the participation in AESs. We find that a set of behavioural factors seem consistently connected to participation, including agricultural training, advice and having positive attitudes towards AESs. Moreover, several factors related to opportunity costs also have a rather consistent relationship with AES participation, including market conditions, implementation efforts, profitability, and management and contract flexibility. However, many relationships of behavioural factors and opportunity costs with AES participation are not as consistent and generalizable as sometimes portrayed and require context-specific interpretation. Those factors with mixed results can still provide insights into farmers' participation decisions as several of them are either ‘positively and insignificantly’ or ‘negatively and insignificantly’ related to participation, such as environmental attitude, trust and farm size. These results suggest that their relationship with AES participation depends on other factors or the setting, highlighting interactions and raising important new research questions. Overall, our results provide several entry points for both researchers and policy-makers, highlighting uncertainties in relationships between factors and participation that should be considered when designing policies.
format Journal Article
id CGSpace140425
institution CGIAR Consortium
language Inglés
publishDate 2023
publishDateRange 2023
publishDateSort 2023
publisher Wiley
publisherStr Wiley
record_format dspace
spelling CGSpace1404252025-12-08T09:54:28Z The role of behavioural factors and opportunity costs in farmers' participation in voluntary agri-environmental schemes: A systematic review Schaub, Sergei Ghazoul, Jaboury Huber, Robert Zhang, Wei Sander, Adelaide Rees, Charles Banerjee, Simanti Finger, Robert participation costs opportunity costs farmers contracts agriculture environment markets behaviour profit behavioural responses Agri-environmental schemes (AESs) are increasingly implemented to promote the adoption of environmentally friendly practices by farmers. We use a systematic review to explore the role of behavioural factors and opportunity costs in farmers' decisions to participate in AESs in Australia, Europe and North America. Behavioural factors influence how farmers value and perceive options, while opportunity costs relate to farmers' forgone utility when choosing to participate in schemes. We synthesise insights from 79 articles and over 700 factors explaining the participation in AESs. We find that a set of behavioural factors seem consistently connected to participation, including agricultural training, advice and having positive attitudes towards AESs. Moreover, several factors related to opportunity costs also have a rather consistent relationship with AES participation, including market conditions, implementation efforts, profitability, and management and contract flexibility. However, many relationships of behavioural factors and opportunity costs with AES participation are not as consistent and generalizable as sometimes portrayed and require context-specific interpretation. Those factors with mixed results can still provide insights into farmers' participation decisions as several of them are either ‘positively and insignificantly’ or ‘negatively and insignificantly’ related to participation, such as environmental attitude, trust and farm size. These results suggest that their relationship with AES participation depends on other factors or the setting, highlighting interactions and raising important new research questions. Overall, our results provide several entry points for both researchers and policy-makers, highlighting uncertainties in relationships between factors and participation that should be considered when designing policies. 2023-09 2024-03-14T12:09:29Z 2024-03-14T12:09:29Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/140425 en Open Access Wiley Schaub, Sergei; Ghazoul, Jaboury; Huber, Robert; Zhang, Wei; Sander, Adelaide; Rees, Charles; Banerjee, Simanti; and Finger, Robert. 2023. The role of behavioural factors and opportunity costs in farmers' participation in voluntary agri-environmental schemes: A systematic review. Journal of Agricultural Economics 74(3): 617-660. https://doi.org/10.1111/1477-9552.12538
spellingShingle participation
costs
opportunity costs
farmers
contracts
agriculture
environment
markets
behaviour
profit
behavioural responses
Schaub, Sergei
Ghazoul, Jaboury
Huber, Robert
Zhang, Wei
Sander, Adelaide
Rees, Charles
Banerjee, Simanti
Finger, Robert
The role of behavioural factors and opportunity costs in farmers' participation in voluntary agri-environmental schemes: A systematic review
title The role of behavioural factors and opportunity costs in farmers' participation in voluntary agri-environmental schemes: A systematic review
title_full The role of behavioural factors and opportunity costs in farmers' participation in voluntary agri-environmental schemes: A systematic review
title_fullStr The role of behavioural factors and opportunity costs in farmers' participation in voluntary agri-environmental schemes: A systematic review
title_full_unstemmed The role of behavioural factors and opportunity costs in farmers' participation in voluntary agri-environmental schemes: A systematic review
title_short The role of behavioural factors and opportunity costs in farmers' participation in voluntary agri-environmental schemes: A systematic review
title_sort role of behavioural factors and opportunity costs in farmers participation in voluntary agri environmental schemes a systematic review
topic participation
costs
opportunity costs
farmers
contracts
agriculture
environment
markets
behaviour
profit
behavioural responses
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/140425
work_keys_str_mv AT schaubsergei theroleofbehaviouralfactorsandopportunitycostsinfarmersparticipationinvoluntaryagrienvironmentalschemesasystematicreview
AT ghazouljaboury theroleofbehaviouralfactorsandopportunitycostsinfarmersparticipationinvoluntaryagrienvironmentalschemesasystematicreview
AT huberrobert theroleofbehaviouralfactorsandopportunitycostsinfarmersparticipationinvoluntaryagrienvironmentalschemesasystematicreview
AT zhangwei theroleofbehaviouralfactorsandopportunitycostsinfarmersparticipationinvoluntaryagrienvironmentalschemesasystematicreview
AT sanderadelaide theroleofbehaviouralfactorsandopportunitycostsinfarmersparticipationinvoluntaryagrienvironmentalschemesasystematicreview
AT reescharles theroleofbehaviouralfactorsandopportunitycostsinfarmersparticipationinvoluntaryagrienvironmentalschemesasystematicreview
AT banerjeesimanti theroleofbehaviouralfactorsandopportunitycostsinfarmersparticipationinvoluntaryagrienvironmentalschemesasystematicreview
AT fingerrobert theroleofbehaviouralfactorsandopportunitycostsinfarmersparticipationinvoluntaryagrienvironmentalschemesasystematicreview
AT schaubsergei roleofbehaviouralfactorsandopportunitycostsinfarmersparticipationinvoluntaryagrienvironmentalschemesasystematicreview
AT ghazouljaboury roleofbehaviouralfactorsandopportunitycostsinfarmersparticipationinvoluntaryagrienvironmentalschemesasystematicreview
AT huberrobert roleofbehaviouralfactorsandopportunitycostsinfarmersparticipationinvoluntaryagrienvironmentalschemesasystematicreview
AT zhangwei roleofbehaviouralfactorsandopportunitycostsinfarmersparticipationinvoluntaryagrienvironmentalschemesasystematicreview
AT sanderadelaide roleofbehaviouralfactorsandopportunitycostsinfarmersparticipationinvoluntaryagrienvironmentalschemesasystematicreview
AT reescharles roleofbehaviouralfactorsandopportunitycostsinfarmersparticipationinvoluntaryagrienvironmentalschemesasystematicreview
AT banerjeesimanti roleofbehaviouralfactorsandopportunitycostsinfarmersparticipationinvoluntaryagrienvironmentalschemesasystematicreview
AT fingerrobert roleofbehaviouralfactorsandopportunitycostsinfarmersparticipationinvoluntaryagrienvironmentalschemesasystematicreview