TY  - JOUR
AB  - Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of farmers’ risk perceptions regarding rubber farming on their land use choices, including rubber specialization and crop diversification.Design/methodology/approach A cross-sectional survey data of some 600 smallholder rubber farmers in Xishuangbanna in Southwest China is employed. This paper develops a general conceptual framework that incorporates a subjective risk item into a model of farmers’ land use choices, thereby developing four econometric models to estimate the role of risk perceptions, and applies instrumental variables to control for the endogeneity of risk perceptions.Findings The results demonstrate that risk perceptions play an important role in smallholders’ decision-making regarding land use strategies to address potential risks in rubber farming. Smallholders with higher risk perceptions specialize in rubber farming less often and are more likely to diversify their land use, thereby contributing to local environmental conservation in terms of agrobiodiversity. The land use choices of smallholder rubber farmers are also associated with ethnicity, household wealth, off-farm employment, land tenure status, altitude and rubber farming experience.Originality/value This study contributes to a better understanding of the implications of farmers’ risk perceptions and shows entry points for improving the sustainability of rubber-based land use systems.
VL  - 9
IS  - 2
SN  - 1756-137X
DO  - 10.1108/CAER-07-2016-0097
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1108/CAER-07-2016-0097
AU  - Min Shi
AU  - Huang Jikun
AU  - Waibel Hermann
PY  - 2017
Y1  - 2017/01/01
TI  - Rubber specialization vs crop diversification: the roles of perceived risks
T2  - China Agricultural Economic Review
PB  - Emerald Publishing Limited
SP  - 188
EP  - 210
Y2  - 2024/09/19
ER  -