The influence of farmer demographic characteristics on environmental behaviour: A review

• Published in: Journal of environmental management 2014-03, Vol.135, p.19-26
• Main Author: Burton, Rob J.F.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Agriculture; Animal, plant and microbial ecology; Applied ecology; Behavior; Biological and medical sciences; Causality; Conservation, protection and management of environment and wildlife; Culture; Demographic; Demographics; Demography; Employment; Environment; Environmental aspects; Environmental behaviour; Farmer characteristics; Farmers; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; General aspects; Humans; Influence; Models, Theoretical; Speculation
• ISSN: 0301-4797; 1095-8630
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2013.12.005

Many agricultural studies have observed a relationship between farmer demographic characteristics and environmental behaviours. These relationships are frequently employed in the construction of models, the identification of farmer types, or as part of more descriptive analyses aimed at understanding farmers' environmental behaviour. However, they have also often been found to be inconsistent or contradictory. Although a considerable body of literature has built up around the subject area, research has a tendency to focus on factors such as the direction, strength and consistency of the relationship – leaving the issue of causality largely to speculation. This review addresses this gap by reviewing literature on 4 key demographic variables: age, experience, education, and gender for hypothesised causal links. Overall the review indicates that the issue of causality is a complex one. Inconsistent relationships can be attributed to the presence of multiple causal pathways, the role of scheme factors in determining which pathway is important, inadequately specified measurements of demographic characteristics, and the treatment of non-linear causalities as linear. In addition, all demographic characteristics were perceived to be influenced (to varying extents) by cultural-historical patterns leading to cohort effects or socialised differences in the relationship with environmental behaviour. The paper concludes that more work is required on the issue of causality. •Literature on farmer demographic variables and environmental behaviour is reviewed.•Causal explanations for the relationships are assessed.•A framework diagram is constructed to examine linkages between variables.•Six recommendations are made to assist future research.