Greening the common agricultural policy: a behavioural perspective and lab-in-the-field experiment in Germany

Abstract

Abstract This study investigates the behavioural economic underpinnings of current policy approaches to integrate environmental objectives into the Common Agricultural Policy. We conduct an economic lab-in-the-field experiment with farmers in Germany. We analyse the impact of the following policy design features on farmers’ decisions to adopt sustainable agricultural practices: (i) framing of the policy: whether farmers perceive themselves as being part of the problem or the solution, (ii) degree of control: mandatory vs. voluntary policy and (iii) framing of incentives as either losses or gains. All policy designs tested result in a significant increase in hectares conserved compared to a baseline scenario without policy. Also, behavioural factors do significantly affect farmers’ behaviour at the individual level. Only framing is found to significantly affect policy effectiveness.