IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v13y2021i18p10244-d635044.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Three Decades of Behavioural Economics in Agriculture. An Overview of Global Research

Author

Listed:
  • Ernesto Mesa-Vázquez

    (Research Centre on Mediterranean Intensive Agrosystems and Agrifood Biotechnology (CIAIMBITAL), Department of Economy and Business, University of Almería, 04120 Almería, Spain)

  • Juan F. Velasco-Muñoz

    (Research Centre on Mediterranean Intensive Agrosystems and Agrifood Biotechnology (CIAIMBITAL), Department of Economy and Business, University of Almería, 04120 Almería, Spain)

  • José A. Aznar-Sánchez

    (Research Centre on Mediterranean Intensive Agrosystems and Agrifood Biotechnology (CIAIMBITAL), Department of Economy and Business, University of Almería, 04120 Almería, Spain)

  • Belén López-Felices

    (Research Centre on Mediterranean Intensive Agrosystems and Agrifood Biotechnology (CIAIMBITAL), Department of Economy and Business, University of Almería, 04120 Almería, Spain)

Abstract

Over the last three decades, behavioural economics has been gaining ground in the research on a wide range of agriculture-related themes. This is due to the diversity of the agents involved in the production systems and the agro-food value chains in which opposing interests must be reconciled. The main objective of this study is to examine the dynamics of the research on the application of behavioural economics in agriculture across the world. To do this, a bibliometric analysis has been carried out through a literature review of the period between 1991 and 2020. The results of the study show that the use of behavioural economics has increased in the research on agriculture, particularly over the last five years. The application of behavioural economics in agriculture has focused on analysing consumers, producers, management, marketing, development, environmental issues, climate change, food and health.

Suggested Citation

  • Ernesto Mesa-Vázquez & Juan F. Velasco-Muñoz & José A. Aznar-Sánchez & Belén López-Felices, 2021. "Three Decades of Behavioural Economics in Agriculture. An Overview of Global Research," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(18), pages 1-21, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:18:p:10244-:d:635044
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/18/10244/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/18/10244/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jutta Roosen & Stéphan Marette, 2011. "Making the "right" choice based on experiments: regulatory decisions for food and health," European Review of Agricultural Economics, Oxford University Press and the European Agricultural and Applied Economics Publications Foundation, vol. 38(3), pages 361-381, August.
    2. Esther Duflo & Michael Kremer & Jonathan Robinson, 2011. "Nudging Farmers to Use Fertilizer: Theory and Experimental Evidence from Kenya," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 101(6), pages 2350-2390, October.
    3. Jayson L. Lusk, 2014. "Are you smart enough to know what to eat? A critique of behavioural economics as justification for regulation," European Review of Agricultural Economics, Oxford University Press and the European Agricultural and Applied Economics Publications Foundation, vol. 41(3), pages 355-373.
    4. Vincent Réquillart & Louis-Georges Soler, 2014. "Is the reduction of chronic diseases related to food consumption in the hands of the food industry?," European Review of Agricultural Economics, Oxford University Press and the European Agricultural and Applied Economics Publications Foundation, vol. 41(3), pages 375-403.
    5. Laure Kuhfuss & Raphaële Préget & Sophie Thoyer & Nick Hanley, 2016. "Nudging farmers to enrol land into agri-environmental schemes: the role of a collective bonus," European Review of Agricultural Economics, Oxford University Press and the European Agricultural and Applied Economics Publications Foundation, vol. 43(4), pages 609-636.
    6. Belén López-Felices & José A. Aznar-Sánchez & Juan F. Velasco-Muñoz & María Piquer-Rodríguez, 2020. "Contribution of Irrigation Ponds to the Sustainability of Agriculture. A Review of Worldwide Research," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(13), pages 1-18, July.
    7. Peggy J. Liu & Jessica Wisdom & Christina A. Roberto & Linda J. Liu & Peter A. Ubel, 2014. "Using Behavioral Economics to Design More Effective Food Policies to Address Obesity," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 36(1), pages 6-24.
    8. Pierre Chandon, 2013. "How Package Design and Packaged-based Marketing Claims Lead to Overeating," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 35(1), pages 7-31.
    9. Wossink, G. A. A. & de Buck, A. J. & van Niejenhuis, J. H. & Haverkamp, H. C. M., 1997. "Farmer perceptions of weed control techniques in sugarbeet," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 55(3), pages 409-423, November.
    10. E. Garfield & I. H. Sher, 1963. "New factors in the evaluation of scientific literature through citation indexing," American Documentation, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 14(3), pages 195-201, July.
    11. Jayson L Lusk & Jill McCluskey, 2018. "Understanding the Impacts of Food Consumer Choice and Food Policy Outcomes," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 40(1), pages 5-21.
    12. Floris Heukelom, 2007. "Kahneman and Tversky and the Origin of Behavioral Economics," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 07-003/1, Tinbergen Institute.
    13. Adenike K. Opejin & Rimjhim M. Aggarwal & Dave D. White & J. Leah Jones & Ross Maciejewski & Giuseppe Mascaro & Hessam S. Sarjoughian, 2020. "A Bibliometric Analysis of Food-Energy-Water Nexus Literature," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-18, February.
    14. Aznar-Sánchez, José A. & Piquer-Rodríguez, María & Velasco-Muñoz, Juan F. & Manzano-Agugliaro, Francisco, 2019. "Worldwide research trends on sustainable land use in agriculture," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    15. Gema Albort-Morant & Jörg Henseler & Antonio Leal-Millán & Gabriel Cepeda-Carrión, 2017. "Mapping the Field: A Bibliometric Analysis of Green Innovation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(6), pages 1-15, June.
    16. Saugato Datta & Sendhil Mullainathan, 2014. "Behavioral Design: A New Approach to Development Policy," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 60(1), pages 7-35, March.
    17. Lasse Brune & Xavier Giné & Jessica Goldberg & Dean Yang, 2016. "Facilitating Savings for Agriculture: Field Experimental Evidence from Malawi," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 64(2), pages 187-220.
    18. Keiko Goto & Alexandra Waite & Cindy Wolff & Kenny Chan & Maria Giovanni, 2013. "Do Environmental Interventions Impact Elementary School Students' Lunchtime Milk Selection?," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 35(2), pages 360-376.
    19. Pierre Chandon, 2013. "How Package Design and Packaged-based Marketing Claims Lead to Overeating," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 35(1), pages 7-31.
    20. Schmid, A. Allan & Robison, Lindon J., 1995. "Applications Of Social Capital Theory," Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics, Southern Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 27(1), pages 1-8, July.
    21. Zabavnik, Darja & Verbič, Miroslav, 2021. "Relationship between the financial and the real economy: A bibliometric analysis," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 55-75.
    22. Kirsten Huijps & Henk Hogeveen & Gerrit Antonides & Natalia I. Valeeva & Theo J.G.M. Lam & Alfons G.J.M. Oude Lansink, 2010. "Sub-optimal economic behaviour with respect to mastitis management," European Review of Agricultural Economics, Oxford University Press and the European Agricultural and Applied Economics Publications Foundation, vol. 37(4), pages 553-568, December.
    23. Just, David R., 2006. "Behavioral Economics, Food Assistance, and Obesity," Agricultural and Resource Economics Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 35(2), pages 209-220, October.
    24. Huang, Lu & Zhang, Yi & Guo, Ying & Zhu, Donghua & Porter, Alan L., 2014. "Four dimensional Science and Technology planning: A new approach based on bibliometrics and technology roadmapping," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 39-48.
    25. Richards, Timothy J. & Hamilton, Stephen F., 2018. "Food waste in the sharing economy," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 109-123.
    26. Miller, Gabrielle F. & Gupta, Sonam & Kropp, Jaclyn D. & Grogan, Kelly A. & Mathews, Anne, 2016. "The effects of pre-ordering and behavioral nudges on National School Lunch Program participants’ food item selection," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 4-16.
    27. Douglas K. R. Robinson & Lu Huang & Yan Guo & Alan L. Porter, 2013. "Forecasting Innovation Pathways (FIP) for new and emerging science and technologies," Post-Print hal-01070417, HAL.
    28. Jonathan A. Foley & Navin Ramankutty & Kate A. Brauman & Emily S. Cassidy & James S. Gerber & Matt Johnston & Nathaniel D. Mueller & Christine O’Connell & Deepak K. Ray & Paul C. West & Christian Balz, 2011. "Solutions for a cultivated planet," Nature, Nature, vol. 478(7369), pages 337-342, October.
    29. Saugato Datta & Sendhil Mullainathan, 2014. "Behavioral Design: A New Approach to Development Policy," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 60(1), pages 7-35, March.
    30. de Koeijer, T. J. & Wossink, G. A. A. & van Ittersum, M. K. & Struik, P. C. & Renkema, J. A., 1999. "A conceptual model for analysing input-output coefficients in arable farming systems: from diagnosis towards design," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 61(1), pages 33-44, July.
    31. D.K. Robinson & Lu Huang & Ying Guo & Alan L. Porter, 2013. "Forecasting Innovation Pathways (FIP) for new and emerging science and technologies," Post-Print hal-01071140, HAL.
    32. Robert Wade, 2009. "Rethinking Industrial Policy in Low Income Countries," African Development Review, African Development Bank, vol. 21(2), pages 352-366.
    33. Claudio A. Bonilla & José M. Merigó & Carolina Torres-Abad, 2015. "Economics in Latin America: a bibliometric analysis," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 105(2), pages 1239-1252, November.
    34. Keiko Goto & Alexandra Waite & Cindy Wolff & Kenny Chan & Maria Giovanni, 2013. "Do Environmental Interventions Impact Elementary School Students' Lunchtime Milk Selection?," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 35(2), pages 360-376.
    35. Richard H. Thaler, 2016. "Behavioral Economics: Past, Present, and Future," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 106(7), pages 1577-1600, July.
    36. Jane Mills & Peter Gaskell & Julie Ingram & Janet Dwyer & Matt Reed & Christopher Short, 2017. "Engaging farmers in environmental management through a better understanding of behaviour," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 34(2), pages 283-299, June.
    37. Clark P. Bishop & C. Richard Shumway & Philip R. Wandschneider, 2010. "Agent Heterogeneity in Adoption of Anaerobic Digestion Technology: Integrating Economic, Diffusion, and Behavioral Innovation Theories," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 86(3).
    38. Nadia A. Streletskaya & Samuel D. Bell & Maik Kecinski & Tongzhe Li & Simanti Banerjee & Leah H. Palm‐Forster & David Pannell, 2020. "Agricultural Adoption and Behavioral Economics: Bridging the Gap," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 42(1), pages 54-66, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Belén López-Felices & José A. Aznar-Sánchez & Juan F. Velasco-Muñoz & María Piquer-Rodríguez, 2020. "Contribution of Irrigation Ponds to the Sustainability of Agriculture. A Review of Worldwide Research," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(13), pages 1-18, July.
    2. José A. Aznar-Sánchez & Juan F. Velasco-Muñoz & Belén López-Felices & Isabel M. Román-Sánchez, 2020. "An Analysis of Global Research Trends on Greenhouse Technology: Towards a Sustainable Agriculture," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(2), pages 1-22, January.
    3. María J. López-Serrano & Juan F. Velasco-Muñoz & José A. Aznar-Sánchez & Isabel M. Román-Sánchez, 2020. "Sustainable Use of Wastewater in Agriculture: A Bibliometric Analysis of Worldwide Research," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(21), pages 1-20, October.
    4. Coccia, Mario & Wang, Lili, 2015. "Path-breaking directions of nanotechnology-based chemotherapy and molecular cancer therapy," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 155-169.
    5. Irz, Xavier & Mazzocchi, Mario & Réquillart, Vincent & Soler, Louis-Georges, 2015. "Research in Food Economics: past trends and new challenges," Revue d'Etudes en Agriculture et Environnement, Editions NecPlus, vol. 96(01), pages 187-237, March.
    6. Metin Çakır & Joseph V. Balagtas & Abigail M. Okrent & Mariana Urbina‐Ramirez, 2021. "Effects of Package Size on Household Food Purchases," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 43(2), pages 781-801, June.
    7. Friedman, Willa & Wilson, Nicholas, 2022. "Can nudging overcome procrastinating on preventive health investments?," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 45(C).
    8. Bonan, Jacopo & Battiston, Pietro & Bleck, Jaimie & LeMay-Boucher, Philippe & Pareglio, Stefano & Sarr, Bassirou & Tavoni, Massimo, 2021. "Social interaction and technology adoption: Experimental evidence from improved cookstoves in Mali," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 144(C).
    9. Elizabeth Gibson & Tugrul Daim & Edwin Garces & Marina Dabic, 2018. "Technology Foresight: A Bibliometric Analysis to Identify Leading and Emerging Methods," Foresight and STI Governance (Foresight-Russia till No. 3/2015), National Research University Higher School of Economics, vol. 12(1), pages 6-24.
    10. Nader Hamdi & Brenna Ellison & Jennifer McCaffrey & Jessica Jarick Metcalfe & Ashley Hoffman & Pamela Haywood & Melissa Pflugh Prescott, 2020. "Implementation of a Multi-Component School Lunch Environmental Change Intervention to Improve Child Fruit and Vegetable Intake: A Mixed-Methods Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(11), pages 1-17, June.
    11. Sara A. Elnakib & Virginia Quick & Mariel Mendez & Shauna Downs & Olivia A. Wackowski & Mark G. Robson, 2021. "Food Waste in Schools: A Pre-/Post-test Study Design Examining the Impact of a Food Service Training Intervention to Reduce Food Waste," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(12), pages 1-13, June.
    12. Anandi Mani & Sendhil Mullainathan & Eldar Shafir & Jiaying Zhao, 2020. "Scarcity and Cognitive Function around Payday: A Conceptual and Empirical Analysis," Journal of the Association for Consumer Research, University of Chicago Press, vol. 5(4), pages 365-376.
    13. Zhou, Xiao & Huang, Lu & Porter, Alan & Vicente-Gomila, Jose M., 2019. "Tracing the system transformations and innovation pathways of an emerging technology: Solid lipid nanoparticles," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 146(C), pages 785-794.
    14. Romain Cadario & Pierre Chandon, 2020. "Which Healthy Eating Nudges Work Best? A Meta-Analysis of Field Experiments," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 39(3), pages 465-486, May.
    15. Zhang, Yi & Zhang, Guangquan & Chen, Hongshu & Porter, Alan L. & Zhu, Donghua & Lu, Jie, 2016. "Topic analysis and forecasting for science, technology and innovation: Methodology with a case study focusing on big data research," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 179-191.
    16. Dominik Naeher, 2022. "Technology Adoption Under Costly Information Processing," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 63(2), pages 699-753, May.
    17. Zhang, Yi & Robinson, Douglas K.R. & Porter, Alan L. & Zhu, Donghua & Zhang, Guangquan & Lu, Jie, 2016. "Technology roadmapping for competitive technical intelligence," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 175-186.
    18. Laiou, Elpiniki & Rapti, Iro & Schwarzer, Ralf & Fleig, Lena & Cianferotti, Luisella & Ngo, Joy & Rizos, Evangelos C. & Wetle, Terrie Fox & Kahlmeier, Sonja & Vigilanza, Antonella & Tsilidis, Konstant, 2021. "Review: Nudge interventions to promote healthy diets and physical activity," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 102(C).
    19. Emma Boswell Dean & Frank Schilbach & Heather Schofield, 2017. "Poverty and Cognitive Function," NBER Chapters, in: The Economics of Poverty Traps, pages 57-118, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    20. repec:lic:licosd:34413 is not listed on IDEAS
    21. Lucia A Reisch, 2021. "Shaping healthy and sustainable food systems with behavioural food policy [The impacts of dietary change on greenhouse gas emissions, land use, water use, and health: a systematic review]," European Review of Agricultural Economics, Oxford University Press and the European Agricultural and Applied Economics Publications Foundation, vol. 48(4), pages 665-693.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:18:p:10244-:d:635044. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.