Agricultural Adoption and Behavioral Economics: Bridging the Gap


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Researchers in behavioral economics use insights from psychology and economics to understand how and why people make certain decisions. Their approaches are starting to influence policies in agriculture.

In the new article published in the Applied Economic Perspectives & Policy, “Agricultural Adoption and Behavioral Economics: Bridging the Gap,” the authors dig into the linkages between research on agricultural technology adoption and behavioral economics. They also highlight three specific opportunities to join these research perspectives to inform evidence-based decision making and policy.

One of the authors, Leah Palm-Forster from the University of Delaware, says, “We felt that there were real opportunities to bring together the two research areas, on behavioral economics and the behavior of farmers, to explore their overlap and to look at key areas where the two bodies of research could enrich each other. We hope this can help make agricultural programs and policies more effective.”

The full team of authors includes AAEA members Nadia Streletskaya (Oregon State University), Samuel Bell (Oregon State University), Maik Kecinski (University of Delaware), Tongzhe Li (University of Windsor), Simanti Banerjee (University of Nebraska-Lincoln), Leah Palm‐Forster (University of Delaware), and David Pannell (University of Western Australia).

The article is available to the public now and you can listen to David Pannell and Leah Palm-Forster’s Podcast here: https://soundcloud.com/user-297451350/aepp-421-2

If you are interested in setting up an interview with Leah or David, please contact Allison Scheetz in the AAEA Business Office.

ABOUT AAEA: Established in 1910, the Agricultural & Applied Economics Association (AAEA) is the leading professional association for agricultural and applied economists, with 2,500 members in more than 60 countries. Members of the AAEA work in academic or government institutions as well as in industry and not-for-profit organizations, and engage in a variety of research, teaching, and outreach activities in the areas of agriculture, the environment, food, health, and international development. The AAEA publishes two journals, the American Journal of Agricultural Economics and Applied Economic Perspectives & Policy, as well as the online magazine Choices and the online open access publication series Applied Economics Teaching Resources. To learn more, visit http://www.aaea.org.

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