Technology Adoption and Risk Preferences: The Case of Machine Harvesting by Southeastern Blueberry Producers

Aaron Rodgers, Kimberly Morgan and Ardian Harri

Journal of Food Distribution Research, 2017, vol. 48, issue 2

Abstract: This research investigates the effect of producers’ risk preferences on the adoption of a new technology—machine harvesting—among blueberry producers in the Southeastern United States. Technology adoption literature assumes that risk aversion decreases the likelihood of adopting a new technology, but findings reveal that growers with higher levels of risk aversion are more likely to adopt machine harvesting. One explanation for this discrepancy is that we assume there are risks in both forms of harvest technology. The current patchwork or immigration policy and enforcement has made the availability of manual labor—the status quo technology—increasingly volatile.

Keywords: Agricultural and Food Policy; Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety; Food Security and Poverty (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ags:jlofdr:274586

DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.274586

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