What Factors Influence Producers’ adoption of Transgenic Technology under the Background of Risk Amplification?

Abstract

Consumer preference for products made from transgenic technology has been widely studied, yet few studies exist exploring the factors influencing producers’ adoption of transgenic technology. Based on field surveys in Chinese provinces of Shanxi, Henan and Shandong, we employed a gambling experiment to capture producers’ risk preferences by estimating their risk aversion coefficients. We further estimated producers’ risk amplification and risk perception of GM technology. Using ordered logit model, we identified the major factors influencing producers’ adoption of transgenic technology. We found the factors impacted the decision of producers from different regions in different ways. The results showed that two-thirds of participants amplified the risk of transgenic crops. When there was potential risk, producers might not be rational even if they had high level of knowledge and cognition about the technology. Our results shed light on government policies aiming to increase the adoption of new technologies by producers.