Risk aversion, cooperative membership and the adoption of Ggreen control techniques. Evidence from China

Green control techniques are helpful for ensuring the safety of the ecological environment. Their application offers important support for clean production among farmers, but their application level is not high because farmers are risk averse. To solve this dilemma, farmers’ degree of risk aversion was measured through an experimental economics approach applied to the results of a survey of 385 vegetable farmers in Shandong Province. This study adopts an endogenous switching probit model to reveal the impact of vegetable farmers’ risk aversion and cooperative membership on their adoption of green control techniques. Furthermore, it examines whether cooperative membership helps alleviate the inhibitory effect of risk aversion on the adoption of green control techniques among vegetable farmers. The results show that vegetable farmers’ degree of risk aversion has a significant and positive impact on their cooperative membership and a significant and negative impact on their adoption of green control techniques, while their participation in cooperatives may not only promote their adoption of green control techniques but also alleviate the inhibitory effect of risk aversion on such adoption. To promote cleaner production by farmers, policymakers should reduce the risk of adopting green control techniques for farmers, increase support for cooperatives and improve the internal conditions and external environment to promote the adoption of green control techniques among farmers.