Risk Perceptions, Preferences, and the Adoption Dynamics of Pesticide-Free Production

We study the adoption of a new pesticide -free wheat production system in Switzerland. Largescale transitions to such production systems have implications for the entire agricultural and food sector. Using survey data from 1,073 Swiss wheat producers, we empirically test whether risk preferences and risk perceptions in four domains relate to farmers' decisions whether and when to adopt pesticide -free production. We observe heterogeneity in farmers' risk perceptions (e.g., early versus late adopter) and find that farmers' risk preferences-as well as their perceptions of production and institutional risk-are related to adoption behavior rather than to perceived market and investment risks.