Using choice experiments to analyse farmers’ preferences for the governance attributes of agri-environment schemes

The research under Work Package 7 adopts a choice experiment approach to explore how farmers trade-off generic design attributes of agri-environment schemes against each other and the associated per hectare payments. Modelling choice experiment data permits us to determine the relative preferences of farmers in the ITAES partner countries for key scheme design elements such as contract length, level of paperwork, and flexibility over area under agreement or over adherence to scheme prescriptions. Analysis of choice models also allows us to derive a monetary value of the farmers’ willingness to trade off per hectare payments for desired changes in these generic attributes. Overall, the results of this study suggest that a choice experiment approach could provide a suitable framework for investigating farmers’ preferences for AES design and gives some insights into the contract attributes that farmers find most important when deciding to participate in schemes