Broadband Connectivity and Farmers’ Commitments to Organic Farming

Rose Deperrois

Working Papers from Grenoble Applied Economics Laboratory (GAEL)

Abstract: The environmental and health risks of chemical-intensive agriculture call for a transition towards more sustainable practices. However, the adoption of such practices is often hindered by uncertainty about their effects on yields and profitability, making access to reliable information a critical determinant of farmer behaviour. Exploiting the staggered 2015–2023 rollout of broadband mobile internet (4G) in France as a natural experiment, this paper examines how improved information access influences farmers adoption of organic farming. Results reveal that 4G coverage significantly increases the take-up of organic farming by 1 to 2 percentage points after 3 years among farms located in sloped areas. This finding demonstrates that expanding digital infrastructure that reduces information barriers can accelerate the voluntary adoption of sustainable agricultural practices.

Keywords: Agriculture; Organic Farming; Digitalisation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D8 Q16 Q57 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 59 pages
Date: 2026-10
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gbl:wpaper:2026-05

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