Adoption of environmental management systems by farmers: an empirical application to ISO 14001.

摘要

This article examines the determinants of voluntary adoption of the ISO 14001 environmental management system by French farmers. A survey was conducted in December 2001 on 534 farmers. The adoption model incorporates the expected profitability of implementing the standard and investigates the impact of prior knowledge on the probability of adopting. Two information measures are considered: a "reported information" indicator and an "estimated knowledge" score. The probit parameter estimates reveal that, while the expected profitability of implementing the standard is a significant determinant of adoption, real and perceived prior knowledge measures play a significant but potentially counterintuitive role. It is suggested that policymakers or promoters willing to increase the adoption rate should therefore carefully consider the multidimensionality of information e.g. technical aspects of adoption and expected probability, that may promote or impede adoption.