Clustering mental models of structural change in agriculture: Mapping folk ethics of technology and profit

Samuel Brea Martínez-Collado

EconStor Conference Papers from ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics

Abstract: Structural change in European agriculture is widely contested, yet we know little about how people understand its consequences. Using survey data from Germany (N = 1,642), this conference paper examines how respondents expect agriculture to change when profit, technology, or small-scale farming is prioritised, and how desirable they find each model. Latent profile analysis identifies five distinct profiles of expected consequences, across which respondents’ desirability ratings are then compared. Most respondents hold weakly differentiated expectations but favour small-scale farming, while only a small minority supports profit-oriented agriculture. Technology appears as a comparatively less polarizing dimension.

Keywords: latent profile analysis; normative preferences; agricultural transformation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-agr and nep-eur
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:zbw:esconf:343651

DOI: 10.1163/9789004776630-028

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