Abstract
China faces health and environmental problems associated with the use of agricultural chemicals, including pesticides. While previous studies have found that risk aversion affects pesticide use in China, they have focused primarily on commercial cotton farmers. In this study, we consider the case of smaller, semisubsistence and subsistence farmers in a poor and landlocked province of China (Yunnan). We use a field experiment to measure risk aversion and collect detailed data on farm production and input use to specifically ask whether risk aversion affects pesticide use, and whether this effect differs for subsistence farmers producing exclusively for home consumption versus semisubsistence farmers who produce both for home and the market. We find that risk aversion significantly increases pesticide use, particularly for subsistence farmers and for market plots by semisubsistence farmers. Further, this effect of risk aversion significantly decreases with farm size for subsistence farmers, but not for semisubsistence farmers, implying that pesticide use may be used to ensure sufficient food supply for home consumption. Finally, we find barriers to the use of pesticides for subsistence farmers, both in terms of financial constraints and economies of scale. This finding implies that risk-mitigation strategies, such as crop insurance, may not target food security concerns of subsistence farmers. Given these different motivations for pesticide use, policymakers may wish to consider effective tools to support rural food security for farmers in the poorer regions of China in order to decrease pesticide use.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 411-421 |
| Number of pages | 11 |
| Journal | Agricultural Economics (United Kingdom) |
| Volume | 47 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Jul 1 2016 |
Fingerprint
Keywords
- China
- Pesticide use
- Risk aversion
- Semisubsistence and subsistence farmers
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Agronomy and Crop Science
- Economics and Econometrics
Cite this
Farmers’ risk preferences and pesticide use decisions : evidence from field experiments in China. / Gong, Yazhen; Baylis, Kathy; Kozak, Robert; Bull, Gary.
In: Agricultural Economics (United Kingdom), Vol. 47, No. 4, 01.07.2016, p. 411-421.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Farmers’ risk preferences and pesticide use decisions
T2 - evidence from field experiments in China
AU - Gong, Yazhen
AU - Baylis, Kathy
AU - Kozak, Robert
AU - Bull, Gary
PY - 2016/7/1
Y1 - 2016/7/1
N2 - China faces health and environmental problems associated with the use of agricultural chemicals, including pesticides. While previous studies have found that risk aversion affects pesticide use in China, they have focused primarily on commercial cotton farmers. In this study, we consider the case of smaller, semisubsistence and subsistence farmers in a poor and landlocked province of China (Yunnan). We use a field experiment to measure risk aversion and collect detailed data on farm production and input use to specifically ask whether risk aversion affects pesticide use, and whether this effect differs for subsistence farmers producing exclusively for home consumption versus semisubsistence farmers who produce both for home and the market. We find that risk aversion significantly increases pesticide use, particularly for subsistence farmers and for market plots by semisubsistence farmers. Further, this effect of risk aversion significantly decreases with farm size for subsistence farmers, but not for semisubsistence farmers, implying that pesticide use may be used to ensure sufficient food supply for home consumption. Finally, we find barriers to the use of pesticides for subsistence farmers, both in terms of financial constraints and economies of scale. This finding implies that risk-mitigation strategies, such as crop insurance, may not target food security concerns of subsistence farmers. Given these different motivations for pesticide use, policymakers may wish to consider effective tools to support rural food security for farmers in the poorer regions of China in order to decrease pesticide use.
AB - China faces health and environmental problems associated with the use of agricultural chemicals, including pesticides. While previous studies have found that risk aversion affects pesticide use in China, they have focused primarily on commercial cotton farmers. In this study, we consider the case of smaller, semisubsistence and subsistence farmers in a poor and landlocked province of China (Yunnan). We use a field experiment to measure risk aversion and collect detailed data on farm production and input use to specifically ask whether risk aversion affects pesticide use, and whether this effect differs for subsistence farmers producing exclusively for home consumption versus semisubsistence farmers who produce both for home and the market. We find that risk aversion significantly increases pesticide use, particularly for subsistence farmers and for market plots by semisubsistence farmers. Further, this effect of risk aversion significantly decreases with farm size for subsistence farmers, but not for semisubsistence farmers, implying that pesticide use may be used to ensure sufficient food supply for home consumption. Finally, we find barriers to the use of pesticides for subsistence farmers, both in terms of financial constraints and economies of scale. This finding implies that risk-mitigation strategies, such as crop insurance, may not target food security concerns of subsistence farmers. Given these different motivations for pesticide use, policymakers may wish to consider effective tools to support rural food security for farmers in the poorer regions of China in order to decrease pesticide use.
KW - China
KW - Pesticide use
KW - Risk aversion
KW - Semisubsistence and subsistence farmers
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84977482871&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84977482871&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1111/agec.12240
DO - 10.1111/agec.12240
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84977482871
VL - 47
SP - 411
EP - 421
JO - Agricultural Economics
JF - Agricultural Economics
SN - 0169-5150
IS - 4
ER -