The socio-economics of nichemarket creation

A social ecology paradigm for theadoption of organic cultivation in Greece

Efthalia Dimara Anastasia Petrou and Dimitris SkurasDepartment of Economics University of Patras Patras Greece

Keywords Sociology Ecology Niche marketing Organic food Agriculture Quality Greece

Abstract Farmersrsquo decision to adopt organic cultivation and create niche markets is theirresponse to the changing notions of quality and the gradual abandonment of the productivist logicin agriculture This decision is analyzed within a multi-level social ecological context designed toaccount simultaneously for all facetsparts of the farmerrsquos decision-making process Social ecologyprovides a contextual platform conceptualizing global-regional-local relationships within whichniche markets for food products are created Emphasis is placed on farmersrsquo perception of theordfenvironmentordm within which they have to decide on their participation in a policy scheme Elementsof the macro (global) meso (nationalregional) and micro (farm household) ordfenvironmentalordmlevels affect the farmerrsquos decision to adopt organic cultivation Accordingly a decision-making treeremacrecting how farmers perceive that environment and form their decisions is constructed andstatistical models test the impact of factors in the global-regional-local levels on this decision-making process

IntroductionIt is widely acknowledged that the creation of niche markets for food and drinkproducts can promote the sustainable development of peripheral rural regionsLocality becomes increasingly important in the process of adding value totraditionalconventional agricultural products Taken together locality andquality can structure a speciregc ordfimageordm for agricultural products This image isthe key feature for creating a niche market (Ilbery and Kneafsey 1999) Anumber of theoretical approaches drawing on elements of regulation theoryactor-network theory and consumption studies have examined the factorsinmacruencing the creation of niche markets In this work we use elements of thesocial ecology theory and attempt to provide a robust explanation of the factorsunderlying the creation of niche markets for quality food and drink productsThe proposed theoretical context is applied to the study of organic currantcultivation a specialised activity leading to a high quality product

The Emerald Research Register for this journal is available at The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at

httpwwwemeraldinsightcomresearchregister httpwwwemeraldinsightcom0306-8293htm

This work arises out of a programme of collaborative research by the following the Departmentof Geography at the Universities of Coventry Leicester Lancaster Caen Valencia Galway andTrinity College Dublin the Scottish Agricultural College (Aberdeen) Institute of Rural Studies(Aberystwyth) CEMAGREF (Clermont-Ferrand) Teagasc (Dublin) Department of Economics(University of Patras) and Seinajoki Institute for Rural Research and Training (University ofHelsinki) The research was funded under the EUrsquos FAIR programme (FAIR3-CT96-1827)

Socio-economicsof niche market

creation

219

International Journal of SocialEconomics

Vol 30 No 3 2003pp 219-235

q MCB UP Limited0306-8293

DOI 10110803068290310460134

Organic agriculture provides the platform for the creation of niche marketsby adding high quality characteristics to speciregc regional agriculturalproducts As stated by Ilbery and Kneafsey (1999) quality can be used as avaluable tool in the struggle to differentiate food products in an increasinglycompetitive global food market Nonetheless adoption of organic agriculture inGreece which provides a reliable system of quality certiregcation and assuranceis limited compared with the opportunities it offers to both producers andperipheral rural areas This phenomenon is striking in light of the supportprovided by European Unionrsquos (EUrsquos) regional and rural development policieson the one hand and the opportunities it offers to producers to enter a nichemarket on the other Existing knowledge indicates that adoption of policymeasures and in particular of those considered as ordfinnovativeordm is the outcomeof a complex socio-economic decision-making process

The farmerrsquos decision to adopt production innovations has been extensivelystudied by mainstream agricultural economics that frequently view the farmeras a production unit usually isolated from hisher physical social and culturalenvironment aiming to maximize expected returns The aim of the presentpaper is to analyze the farmerrsquos decision to adopt organic agriculture based ona multi-level social ecological context designed to account simultaneously forall facetsparts of the farmerrsquos decision-making process Emphasis is placed onfarmersrsquo perception of the environment within which they have to decide ontheir participation in a policy-promoted technology of production In particularthe case of the organic cultivation of currants is examined in an attempt toanalyze the inmacruence of factors such as human capital and socio-economiccharacteristics as well as location and prior experience with policy-supportedschemes These factors structure producerrsquos perception of the wider socio-economic and institutional changes that urge them to undertake action in anincreasingly competitive global food market

Niche markets and quality theoretical underpinningsPerceived quality is related to the productrsquos ability to provide satisfaction(Monroe and Krishnan 1985) and a consistent level of performance tastefreshness aroma and other properties of the product (Rosen 1984 OrsquoNeill andBlack 1996) Quality cues can be categorized as intrinsic and extrinsic Intrinsiccues are those that are part of the physical product and cannot be changedwithout also changing the physical product itself (Ophuis and van Trijp 1995)Extrinsic are those cues which are related to the product but are not physicallypart of it Well-known intrinsic cues are the color aroma taste etc andextrinsic cues mostly refer to price brand name country of origin etcConsumers have in the past placed emphasis on intrinsic quality cues and theusual policy response was to regulate quality production based on theproductrsquos physical characteristics As such quality was regulated and ranked

IJSE303

220

according to various measurable physical and chemical characteristics of theregnal product

However the many safety food scares over BSE E Coli GMOs andothers have eroded consumer trust in both ofregcial agencies controlling andmonitoring food standards as well as in science and scientists in general(Bromley 2001 McNaghten and Urry 1998) Food has acquired a highpublic proregle in Europe and other developed market economies andconsumers are increasingly concerned to know where food comes from andhow it is produced (Bell and Valentine 1997 Gilg and Battershill 1998)The policyrsquos response was to provide new regulations of quality based onthe method of production and the place of origin of the product As aresult food quality may be certireged by the method of production egorganic cultivation or the regulated place of origin eg products ofdenominated origin (PDOs) or products of geographic indication (PGIs)These new regulations of quality were added to the existing ones whichwere not modireged or abolished

The restructuring of food markets and the creation of niche markets hasbeen the primary focus of analytical contexts such as regulation theory thegeographies of consumption theory and the actor-network theory Eachtheoretical context has been successful in analyzing certain aspects of the widersocial changes observed Regulation theory has proven useful in explaining thechanging conditions in the agro-food sector in terms of policy environment(Fine 1994 Goodman and Redclift 1994 Goodman and Watts 1994) It hasbeen criticized though as a structuralist and economistic approach that ignorescultural practices social norms and locality ie the local mode of socialregulation (Clark et al 1997)

The geographies of consumption theory has focused on the relationshipbetween consumption practices and individual identities According to Glennieand Thrift (1996) aesthetic cultural capital probably informs decisions aboutthe purchase of quality products and services Knox (1991 p 207) proposes anew model of consumption in which ordfthere is a heavy emphasis on taste andaeshetics and a new (postmodern) sensibilityordm More recent conceptualizationshave suggested that consumption is intimately bound up with the constructionof personal identities in terms of status distinction and belonging (Gronow1993 Jackson and Holbrook 1995 McRobbie 1989) Nonetheless the wayaesthetic cultural capital affects producerrsquos behavior and attitudes towardquality products and services is not examined Finally network analysis seeksto understand economic structures as the outcome of active attempts toconstruct and maintain power relations (Murdoch 1995) Advocates of thisapproach view the relationship between the institutions and the individual as aquestion of scale ie a distant enforcement of change and control (Murdoch andMarsden 1995)

Socio-economicsof niche market

creation

221

The social ecology paradigmThe approach proposed here attempts to analyze the interplay of all structures-relations determining the farmerrsquos decision to adopt organic currantcultivation In order to address this aim a theoretical and methodologicalcontext of analysis based on the social ecology approach has been developedSocial ecology is by deregnition an interdisciplinary approach to the study ofsocial and environmental problems (Binder 1972) According to a workingderegnition of the term (Whiteley 1999) social ecological analysis involves

[ ] the application of multiple levels and methods of analysis and theoretical perspectives tosocial problems recognizing the dynamic and active nature of human-environmentinteractions and the social historical cultural and institutional contexts of peoplersquos lives

Multiple levels of analysis include the macro level the meso level and the microlevel applied for example to individuals small groups organizations andgeographical regions Multiple methods of analysis include the application ofboth qualitative and quantitative methods

Within the theoretical framework of social ecology economic decisionproblems may be identireged as ordfsocial constructsordm resulting from a dynamic andactive process of human-environment interactions The notion of environmenttherefore and the way in which it is perceived by different groups of people isbecoming central in the analysis of social phenomena As stated by Binder et al(1975) this could lead to the development of typologies of environments interms of their relative imageability and criteria for determining whichenvironmental elements will be most salient to what groups of people

The social ecological analysis proposed here is a two-step process ofanalyzing the farmerrsquos decision to adopt organic cultivation of Korinthiancurrants a high quality agricultural product First a multi-level model isdesigned to account for the factors forming the environment within whichfarmers have to undertake a decision Second a decision-making tree isconstructed in order to analyze how farmers perceive that environment andform their decisions within it The results drawn from the qualitative analysisof the decision-making process are utilized in order to form hypotheses whichare in turn tested using quantitative methods

Figure 1 shows a three-level analysis model of the environment underlying afarmerrsquos decision to adopt organic production The notion of environment isused to account for the macro meso and micro level speciregcations that underliethe farmerrsquos decisions The social ecology approach acknowledges the differentcontext of each level but it also allows for the analysis of the importantinteractions among them The macro level is the outer border that encompassesthe meso and micro levels and represents a common institutional frameworkdesigned and implemented by the EU

The macro level also inmacruences and encompasses the wider economicchanges and global trends as the EU is a major actor in international decisionmaking The meso level accounts for speciregcations arising from

IJSE303

222

nationalregional characteristics and aims to capture locality and identityFinally the micro level refers to the human social cultural and economiccharacteristics of individual producers and how these may affect their decisionof whether or not to adopt an innovation

Each level represents a set of formal and informal structures-relations Theinteractions among these levels are considered important However the natureand direction of these interactions are not given Identifying the context of eachlevel thus has proven useful in highlighting the nature and direction of thesestructures-relations The macro-level environment involves the nature anddirection of the wider institutional and economic changes observed The meso-level environment involves the choices resulting from a changing macro-levelwhile the micro-level environment depicts actions for which individualdecisions have to be taken In that sense changes lead to choices and choiceslead to decisions These decisions are to a large extent dependent on the wayin which individuals ordfperceiveordm these environments Both needs and wantsobjective and subjective factors condition the way in which environment isperceived These factors are referred to as conditioning variables and aredescribed in the farmerrsquos decision-making tree designed below In order toperform the multi-level analysis proposed here we regrst identify the context of

Figure 1A social ecology

multi-level analyticalmodel

Socio-economicsof niche market

creation

223

each level ie the ordfenvironmentsordm which are best described by a pyramid of thestructures-relations underlying them

A three level analysis of adopting organic cultivation of currantsMacro levelThe process of globalization and the need to promote sustainable andcompetitive food production systems have both informed EUrsquos agriculturalpolicy measures that lead to the transformation of agricultural food productionand consumption patterns Indeed regulation and consumption areacknowledged as key new parameters of rural development (uneven inmany cases) interacting at different spatial and temporal scales (Marsden1995)

An important aspect of the macro environment therefore is the informationdelivered to producers regarding the changing agricultural economy and thetransformation of food supply chains worldwide (Marsden 1998) Oneimportant element of this transformation is a set of changes linked to attemptsto make quality more central to how food supply chains operate Emphasis onquality is identireged as an important strategy for the future development of thefarming and food industries within the process of reshaping consumptionpatterns and demand for agricultural food production (Morris and Young2000)

The evolution of EU policies and regulations clearly shows an attempt tocope with international changes in the agro-food sector In the case of currantcultivation in Greece the macro developments and especially two measuresintroduced since 1981 the year of Greecersquos accession to the then EU havesigniregcantly affected the evolution of the sector Regulation 144288 introducedsubsidies for uprooting older plantations in an attempt to cope with productionsurpluses and competition from non-EU currant producing countriesRegulation 39994 introduced measures to improve the quality of productionand assisted the adoption of organic cultivation of currants that certireges aspeciregc technology of production emphasizing the productrsquos qualitativecharacteristics and especially its hygienic traditional and ordfwholesomeordmproperties The changing market notions of quality geared this regulationaiming to satisfy contemporary consumer needs

Meso levelMarsden (1995) has accurately described the way in which macro-environmentchanges have in the last decades affected the structures-relations formed atthe meso level As he states ordfthe overall effect (of global changes) has been ashift in power and policy in the last decade from a strong nationalstrategyweak local framework to a weak national strategystrong localframeworkordm (Marsden 1995 p 294) In the case of currant cultivation in Greecethe macro-level developments have informed the national context in two

IJSE303

224

interrelated aspects First by introducing a system of quality speciregcations inagriculture and especially the rules on certiregcates of PDOs PGIs andtraditional specialty guaranteed (TSG) the EU attempted to re-regulate qualityaway from its traditional concept to an association with particular places orregions Thus despite the fact that quality of produced currants was regulatedaccording to the physical characteristics of the product in three categories ofquality as A B and C the Greek state submitted an application to the EU andwas granted a PDO certiregcation for currants produced in the oldergeographical zone of quality A production Second in the early 1990s theproduction aid system for dried grapes was gradually replaced by a system ofregxed aid per hectare of harvested specialized area as a response to negotiationsand agreements with the World Trade Organization (WTO)

These developments signaled to producers that in the light of evolutions inthe global markets quality rather than quantity should support incomes Pan-European surveys conregrm the changing consumer needs and especially thegreat value placed to products associated to particular places and geographicregions (Flash Eurobarometer 1996) signifying a shift towards a logic ofquality as opposed to a productivist logic (Allaire and Sylvander 1997) Ilberyet al (2001) argue that this shift back toward local and dedicated productspresents new opportunities for producers still embedded in traditionalproduction methods or seeking to re-embed themselves in such methods

Micro levelBoth the macro and meso environments have shaped the immediate (micro)environment that currant producers face by means of structuring their incomethe resources they own the market they target and their power to negotiateThe price received by producers is made up of the market price of the productplus the per hectare subsidy which for a farmer with the mean per hectareproduction accounts for almost 60 percent of the total price heshe receivesThis per hectare payment is in favor of the small farms or the farms withmedium or low production which are usually located in mountainous and lessfavored non-irrigated areas The price of quality A currants which now bear aPDO certiregcation is consistently higher than that of quality B and C while thedifference in the price of quality B and C currants is not signiregcant Moreoverthe price of organic currants irrespective of the place of production isconsistently higher than that of the conventional product and mostimportantly is not signiregcantly differentiated among quality categories A Bor C

The socio-cultural and economic base of currant cultivation in Greece is bestattributed by the notion of family farming in terms of the goal orientation offarmers and their families the production and reproduction patterns and theirsystem of values norms and beliefs All elements of the micro level

Socio-economicsof niche market

creation

225

environment inform and are being informed by the individual identity ofproducers

The decision-making processThe structures-relations described above undergo a process of comprehensionby individual producers That is all three levels are incorporated into adecision-making tree that depicts the processes of interaction between formaland informal factors A core element characterizing this process is the way inwhich producers perceive these environments Figure 2 shows a decision-making tree under ordfindividual-perceptionordm process of comprehension

Figure 2Decision-makingtree underindividual-perception

IJSE303

226

This process begins as soon as the actor in this case the producer identireges aproblem or an opportunity existing in the environment in which sheheoperates and in our case this is the relocalization of quality A subconsciousprocess is almost immediately activated during which the actor assessesherhis ability to solve the problem or proregt by the available opportunity Thisprocess involves the analysis of all facets of the problemopportunity A fairlyknowledgeable actor will be able to decode the structure-relations underlyingthe problemopportunity shehe is faced with If this is the case the actorrsquosdecision involves taking action in order either to solve the problem or takeadvantage from the opportunity to improve herhis current position In anyother case the actor may decide not to undertake action due to either limitedinformation or bounded comprehension Action therefore involves the processof a consciously designed decision in either direction Knowledge in that senserefers to an individualrsquos inherent capacity to imagine a problem or anopportunity ie to decode its nature This capacity is built ie enhanced andconstrained by conditions such as information education connectivenessinclusiveness values norms and beliefs and the resources owned by theindividual

Data and methodologySampleThe decision process postulated by the social ecology approach presentedabove was tested using a sample of Korinthian currant producers collected inthe framework of a multidisciplinary EU research project A questionnairesurvey with face-to-face interviews was carried out with an objective to contact250 producers in the major currant producing areas of Greece including areasin the quality A zone now a denominated zone and areas in quality B and Czones An initial questionnaire was pilot tested with 20 producers Producerswere sampled from registries were contacted in advance and were interviewedby trained personnel in pre-arranged meetings The survey resulted to 239usable questionnaires From the 239 farmers surveyed 115 are located insidethe class A production zone and 124 outside ie are located in areas producingquality B and C currants Of these 239 farmers 89 had adopted the uprootingscheme 53 within quality A class and 36 outside it Finally 73 farmers haveadopted organic cultivation and 34 of them are located in quality class A and 39outside while of the 73 farmers who have adopted organic cultivation 41 hadalso made use of the uprooting scheme

Through the survey a wide range of information concerning farm and farmhousehold characteristics was collected The collected information was used toproxy some key explanatory variables identireged in the individual farmerrsquosdecision-making process depicted in Figure 2 The major decision to bequantitatively modeled (dependent variable) is the adoption of organicagriculture ie the decision to participate to a policy scheme provided at the

Socio-economicsof niche market

creation

227

macro-level Again at the macro level the provision by the EU and theconsequent adoption of the uprooting scheme by a farmer should be consideredas a major explanatory variable Prior adoption of the uprooting scheme showsthat farmers are familiar with the operation of EU policies and have attempted(successfully or not) to reduce and restructure their production base Prioradoption of policy schemes has been widely used to denote informed farmers orfarmers with a good network of information collection (Saha et al 1994)

At the meso level the statersquos response to localize currant production bysubmitting and successfully being granted a PDO certiregcation for quality Aareas of production is a major explanatory variable encapsulating besidesnational reactions to macro actions of regulation regionallocal environmentalcharacteristics of production Finally at the micro level a number of variablesremacrecting the availability of farm resources and the quality of human capitalmay be used Important resource variables are the size of land and the availablefarm income as a possible source of regnancing investments From the manyavailable human capital characteristics (education training experience etc)we choose education as a proxy of the farmerrsquos ability to identify a ordfproblemordm oran ordfopportunityordm and realize hisher decision by carrying out the requiredoperations Off-farm employment indicates the time resources devoted toagriculture and thus the ability and willingness to adopt new productionstrategies but it also indicates the ability to collect information concerning thelocal and regional labor markets in the other sectors of the economy (Damianosand Skuras 1996)

Statistical modelThe basic dependent variable is a dichotomous variable indicating adoption ornon-adoption of organic cultivation by currant producers Due to thedichotomous nature of the dependent variable a probit statistical model isemployed The deregnitions and basic statistics of the independent (explanatory)variables are shown in Table I

One of the major dependent variables concerns with prior adoption ofthe scheme offered for the uprooting and restructuring of older vineyardsBeing the outcome of a decision to adopt a scheme one may suspect thatthis variable is exogenously determined by a number of other variablesand thus is endogenous to the adoption of the organic cultivation probitmodel For this reason a second probit model was estimated with the priordecision to adopt or not adopt the uprooting scheme as a dependentvariable

An examination of the simultaneous determination of these two probitequations (adoption or non adoption of organic cultivation and of the uprootingscheme) and the estimation of relevant exogeneity tests (Blundell and Smith1994) shows that the decision to uproot is exogenous to the decision to adoptorganic cultivation and thus the two probit models may be estimated

IJSE303

228

separately The decision to adopt the uprooting scheme is a decision concerningwith elements of the macro environment as this scheme was offered by the EUOwing to the interesting results derived from regtting the probit model ofadopting the uprooting scheme we decided to present the results from thismodel alongside with the results from the model concerning adoption oforganic cultivation

At the upper part of Table II the coefregcient estimates of the adoption oforganic cultivation probit model are presented Then in the same Table II thecoefregcient estimates for the decision to adopt the uprooting scheme are shownIn probit models the coefregcient estimates do not accept the same interpretationas the corresponding coefregcients in linear regression models

Thus we estimate the marginal effects which show the effect of increasingone of the independent variables on the probabilities of adopting organiccultivation and of adopting the uproot scheme respectively For dummyindependent variables the marginal effects are analyzed as discrete or relativechanges when the respective dummy takes its two different values 0 and 1respectively (Green 1997) The marginal effects of the independent variables onthe probabilities are presented in Table III for adopters only For non-adoptersthe coefregcient estimates are the same as for adopters but with opposite sign

Separate tests examining the null hypothesis that individual coefregcients arezero can be calculated by analogy with the t-test of the conventional linearregression model A joint test of the null hypothesis that all the parametersassociated with the explanatory variables are equal to zero is a chi-square testbased on the maximised likelihood A goodness-of-regt measure based on thelikelihood-ratio test statistic usually reported as McFaddenrsquos (1979) pseudo-R 2

Variable name Description Mean Std dev

ORGANIC Dependent variable 1 = farmer has adoptedorganic cultivation 0 = otherwise

0305 0462

UPROOT Dependent variable 1 = farmer had adopteduprooting schemes 0 = otherwise

0372 0484

LAND1 Size of currant cultivation before adopting theuprooting scheme in stremma (10stremma = 1ha)

16994 10245

LAND2 Size of currant cultivation before adopting theorganic cultivation scheme (10 stremma = 1 ha)

16238 10515

EDUCAT 0 = Basic education or less 1 = more 0628 0484EMPLOY Dummy variable 0 = major income from

agriculture 1 = otherwise0431 0500

LOCAT Dummy variable 0 = farmer located inside thePDO zone

0519 0501

INCOMEa Agricultural income from all agriculturalenterprises in million Greek drachmas

4170 2372

Note a 1 Euro= 34075 Greek drachmas

Table IDescription and

descriptive statisticsof dependent and

explanatoryvariables

Socio-economicsof niche market

creation

229

measure or rho-square is also computed (Maddala 1983) Besides theendogeneity test referred to above speciregcation test analysis involved a test forheteroskedasticity based on generalized residuals and a test for omittedvariables using predicted values of the dependent variable (Maddala 1995)

ResultsAdoption of organic cultivationAs is shown in Table II the likelihood ratio test is highly signiregcant with ascore of 52935 and the corresponding goodness-of-regt r 2 measure indicates avery satisfactory regt The model correctly predicts almost 77 per cent (184 out of239) of the cases Education agricultural income and the adoption of theuprooting scheme are highly signiregcant Interpreting the marginal effects ofTable III we see that an increase of the total agricultural income by 1 millionGreek drachmas increases the probability that organic farming has beenadopted by 62 percent The probability that organic farming has been adoptedis 14 percent higher for a farmer having higher education or more than forfarmers having only basic education and all other characteristics the same Theprobability that a farmer has adopted organic cultivation is 138 percent higher

Coefregcient estimate Asymptotic t-test

Adoption of organic cultivation (dependent variable ORGANIC)Constant 2 2077 2 6401LAND2 2 0013 2 1243INCOME 0186 3842EDUCAT 0830 4080EMPLOY 2 0102 2 0530LOCAT 0243 1280UPROOT 0838 4220Log-likelihood 2 120614Restricted log-likelihood 2 147081Chi-square (df) 52935(6)McFaddenrsquos r2

0180 of correct predictions 7699

Adoption of the uprooting scheme (dependent variable UPROOT)Constant 2 0387 2 1576LAND1 0304 3523EDUCAT 2 0165 2 0936EMPLOY 2 0378 2 2134LOCAT 2 0426 2 2467Log-likelihood 2 147188Restricted log-likelihood 2 157791Chi-square (df) 21207(5)McFaddenrsquos r2

0067 of correct predictions 7531

Note Indicates signiregcance at the 5 percent level of signiregcance

Table IICoefregcientestimates andmarginal effects ofthe probit models

IJSE303

230

if the farmer has already adopted the uprooting scheme In this model the sizeof the currant plantation prior to adoption of organic cultivation employmentstatus and location are not statistically signiregcant However as we will seethese variables highly inmacruence the decision that a farmer has adopted theuprooting scheme and thus we may argue that exercise an indirect effect onthe decision to adopt organic cultivation

Adoption of uprootingAs is shown in Table II the likelihood ratio test is highly signiregcant with ascore of 21207 and the corresponding goodness-of-regt r 2 measure indicates agood regt The model correctly predicts 7531 percent (180 out of 239) of the cases

Variable name Estimated marginal effects

Adoption of the uprooting scheme (dependent variable UPROOT)LAND1 0011EDUCAT

EDUCAT = 0 2 0064EDUCAT = 1 2 0060EDUCAT change 2 0004EMPLOYEMPLOY = 0 2 0148EMPLOY = 1 2 0128EMPLOY change 2 0020

LOCATLOCAT = 0 2 0168LOCAT = 1 2 0145LOCAT change 2 0023

Adoption of organic cultivation (dependent variable ORGANIC)LAND2 2 0004INCOME 0062EDUCAT

EDUCAT = 0 0178EDUCAT = 1 0318EDUCAT change 2 0140

EMPLOYEMPLOY = 0 2 0035EMPLOY = 1 2 0033EMPLOY change 2 0002

LOCATLOCAT = 0 0075LOCAT = 1 0087LOCAT change 2 0012

UPROOTUPROOT = 0 0196UPROOT = 1 0334UPROOT change 2 0138

Table IIIMarginal effects of

explanatoryvariables

Socio-economicsof niche market

creation

231

From the four variables used in the analysis only education is not statisticallysigniregcant The size of the currant plantation prior to uprooting indicates thatthe higher the size the higher the probability that the farmer had adopted theuprooting scheme Interpreting the marginal effects of Table III for everyadditional hectare of currant plantation (ten stremmata) the probability that theuprooting scheme has been adopted increases by 11 percent The probabilitythat the uprooting scheme has been adopted is higher for full-time farmers thanfor part-time farmers by 2 percent indicating the willingness of full-timefarmers to take advantage of the scheme and restructure their vineyard Theprobability that uprooting has been adopted is higher among farmers locatedinside the class A production zone by 23 percent again indicating the highervalue of restructuring production within the regulated zone of high qualityrather than outside it

It is evident from the analysis so far that the decision to adopt the uprootingscheme provided at the macro-level is highly inmacruenced by elements at themeso-level (location) and elements at the micro-level (size of operationorganisation of time) Consequently the decision to adopt organic cultivation ishighly inmacruenced by prior decisions taken at the macro-level (adoption of theuprooting scheme) and directly or indirectly elements of the meso level withmost important the location the associated PDO certiregcation and elements ofthe micro-level The analysis reveals the interconnected nature of the threeenvironmental levels and their signiregcance in simultaneously inmacruencing eachother Failing to understand and incorporate such interrelated qualitativerelations in the quantitative analysis will lead on to biased and unsatisfactoryresults

ConclusionsThe objective of the present paper is to perform a multi-level quantitative andqualitative analysis of the farmerrsquos decision to adopt organic currantcultivation Social ecology provided the context for this analysis enabling usboth to identify key factors and quantify their importance under the scope ofindividualrsquos perception of the environment Apart form the study of personalsocio-economic characteristics emphasis is placed on the way in which farmersunderstand locality on the one hand and prior participation to policy schemeson the other Analysis of the current policy and market environment indicatesthe existence of two interrelated trends The regrst refers to an ordfopportunitydevelopmentordm nature of policy interventions that seeks to provide and supportmeaningful alternatives to farmers in the peripheral rural areas The secondrefers to a growing marketrsquos contest toward realizing locational comparativeadvantages Quality increasingly related to location supports an outlet towardthe creation of a niche market The aim therefore is to provide evidence ofwhether or not farmers understand organic agriculture as an opportunity todifferentiate their product and enter a niche market

IJSE303

232

Compared with previous regulatory schemes organic cultivation givesfarmers the opportunity to develop a speciregc image for their product based onquality assurance In that sense organic cultivation is a highly ordfimageableordmscheme consisting of a more risky choice with higher however anticipatedbeneregts This is shown by the peculiar fact that education is an importantfactor regarding the adoption of organic cultivation whereas it does not affectadoption of previous policy schemes and in particular of the uprooting schemeThis may be related to the ability of better elaboration of a whole system ofinformation to reduce risk

For producers under the PDO certiregcation ie those in the quality A zone ofcultivation organic agriculture seems to be a follow-up scheme as most of themhad previously adopted the uprooting scheme as well This indicates a strongpolicy orientation a relationship of trust regarding the design and applicationof measures to sustain the distinct market position they already possess andthe beneregts they gain from that position In contrast for the majority ofproducers belonging to the class B and C zones of cultivation adoption oforganic agriculture is not a follow-up scheme Most of the producers in thisclass category have entered organic agriculture without prior participation tothe uprooting scheme For these farmers organic agriculture is the shift back toquality signaled by the EU and WTO attempts to control and suppress theproductivist logic For these producers it is reasonable to assume that theyhave identireged organic cultivation as a niche market offering an opportunity todifferentiate their product improve their market position and bridge the pricedifferential resultant from quality zoning and the consequent PDO certiregcationResults of the quantitative analysis indeed show that belonging to class A ofcultivation is not a statistically signiregcant variable determining the adoption oforganic cultivation and thus the relocalization of quality achieved through thePDO denomination is not the determining factor of a farmerrsquos decision to adoptorganic agriculture as a policy scheme

References

Allaire G and Sylvander B (1997) ordfQualiteAcirc speAcircciregque et systeAacuteme drsquo innovation territorialeordmCahiers drsquoEAcirc conomies et Sociologie Rurales Vol 4 pp 30-59

Bell D and Valentine G (1997) Consuming Geographies We Are Where We Eat RoutledgeLondon

Binder A (1972) ordfA new context for psychology social ecologyordm American Psychologist Vol 27pp 903-8

Binder A Stokols D and Catalano R (1975) ordfSocial ecology an emerging multidisciplineordmJournal of Environmental Education Vol 7 pp 32-43

Blundell R and Smith J (1994) ordfCoherency and estimation in simultaneous models withcensored or qualitative dependent variablesordm Journal of Econometrics Vol 64 pp 355-73

Bromley D (2001) ordfMad cows drugged cows and juggled genesordm Choices 2nd quarter pp 6-9

Clark G Bowler I Cockett A Ilbery B and Shaw A (1997) ordfInstitutions alternative farmingsystems and local reregulationordm Environment and Planning A Vol 29 pp 731-45

Socio-economicsof niche market

creation

233

Damianos D and Skuras D (1996) ordfFarm business and the development of alternative farmenterprises an empirical analysis in Greeceordm Journal of Rural Studies Vol 12 pp 273-83

Fine B (1994) ordfTowards a political economy of foodordm Review of International Political EconomyVol 1 pp 519-45

Flash Eurobarometer (1996) Les Labels de QualiteAcirc Eurobarometer Special Report 93commission of the European Communities Brussels

Gilg A and Battershill M (1998) ordfQuality farm food in Europe a possible alternative to theindustrialised food market and to current agri-environmental policies lessons fromFranceordm Food Policy Vol 23 pp 25-40

Glennie P and Thrift N (1996) ordfConsumption shopping and genderordm in Lowe M andWrigley N (Eds) Retailing Consumption and Capital Longman Group Harlowpp 221-38

Goodman D and Redclift M (1994) ordfConstructing a political economy of foodordm Review ofInternational Political Economy Vol 1 pp 547-52

Goodman D and Watts M (1994) ordfReconregguring the rural or fording the divide capitalistrestructuring and the global agro-food systemordm Environment and Planning D pp 1-49

Green W (1997) Econometric Analysis Prentice-Hall International London

Gronow J (1993) ordfWhat is good tasteordm Social Science Information Vol 32 pp 279-301

Ilbery B and Kneafsey M (1999) ordfNiche markets and regional speciality food products inEurope towards a research agendaordm Environment and Planning A Vol 31 pp 2207-22

Ilbery B Kneafsey M SoEgravederlund A and Dimara E (2001) ordfQuality imagery and marketingproducer perspectives on quality products and services in the lagging rural regions of theEuropean Unionordm Geograregska Annaler Vol 83 pp 27-40

Jackson P and Holbrook B (1995) ordfMultiple meanings shopping and the cultural politics ofidentityordm Environment and Planning A Vol 27 pp 1913-30

Knox PL (1991) ordfThe restless urban landscape economic and socio-cultural change and thetransformation of metropolitan Washington DCordm Annals of the Association of AmericanGeographers Vol 81 pp 181-209

McFadden D (1979) ordfQuantitative methods for analysing travel behaviour of individuals somerecent developmentsordm in Hensher DA and Stopher PR (Eds) Behavioural TravelModelling Croom Helm London pp 279-318

McNaghten P and Urry J (1998) Contested Natures Sage London

McRobbie A (1989) ordfSecond-hand dresses and the role of the rag marketordm in McRobbie A (Ed)Zoot Suits and Second-hand Dresses An Anthology of Fashion and Music MacmillanLondon pp 23-49

Maddala GS (1983) Limited Dependent and Qualitative Variables in Econometrics EconometricSociety Monographs Cambridge University Press Cambridge

Maddala GS (1995) ordfSpeciregcation tests in limited dependentvariable modelsordm in Maddala GSPhillips PCB and Srinivasan TN (Eds) Advances in Economics and QuantitativeEconomics Blackwell Cambridge MA pp 1-49

Marsden T (1995) ordfBeyond agriculture regulating the new rural spacesordm Journal of RuralStudies Vol 11 pp 285-96

Marsden T (1998) ordfNew rural territories regulating the differentiated rural spaceordm Journal ofRural Studies Vol 14 pp 107-17

IJSE303

234

nationalregional characteristics and aims to capture locality and identityFinally the micro level refers to the human social cultural and economiccharacteristics of individual producers and how these may affect their decisionof whether or not to adopt an innovation

Each level represents a set of formal and informal structures-relations Theinteractions among these levels are considered important However the natureand direction of these interactions are not given Identifying the context of eachlevel thus has proven useful in highlighting the nature and direction of thesestructures-relations The macro-level environment involves the nature anddirection of the wider institutional and economic changes observed The meso-level environment involves the choices resulting from a changing macro-levelwhile the micro-level environment depicts actions for which individualdecisions have to be taken In that sense changes lead to choices and choiceslead to decisions These decisions are to a large extent dependent on the wayin which individuals ordfperceiveordm these environments Both needs and wantsobjective and subjective factors condition the way in which environment isperceived These factors are referred to as conditioning variables and aredescribed in the farmerrsquos decision-making tree designed below In order toperform the multi-level analysis proposed here we regrst identify the context of

Figure 1A social ecology

multi-level analyticalmodel

Socio-economicsof niche market

creation

223

each level ie the ordfenvironmentsordm which are best described by a pyramid of thestructures-relations underlying them

A three level analysis of adopting organic cultivation of currantsMacro levelThe process of globalization and the need to promote sustainable andcompetitive food production systems have both informed EUrsquos agriculturalpolicy measures that lead to the transformation of agricultural food productionand consumption patterns Indeed regulation and consumption areacknowledged as key new parameters of rural development (uneven inmany cases) interacting at different spatial and temporal scales (Marsden1995)

An important aspect of the macro environment therefore is the informationdelivered to producers regarding the changing agricultural economy and thetransformation of food supply chains worldwide (Marsden 1998) Oneimportant element of this transformation is a set of changes linked to attemptsto make quality more central to how food supply chains operate Emphasis onquality is identireged as an important strategy for the future development of thefarming and food industries within the process of reshaping consumptionpatterns and demand for agricultural food production (Morris and Young2000)

The evolution of EU policies and regulations clearly shows an attempt tocope with international changes in the agro-food sector In the case of currantcultivation in Greece the macro developments and especially two measuresintroduced since 1981 the year of Greecersquos accession to the then EU havesigniregcantly affected the evolution of the sector Regulation 144288 introducedsubsidies for uprooting older plantations in an attempt to cope with productionsurpluses and competition from non-EU currant producing countriesRegulation 39994 introduced measures to improve the quality of productionand assisted the adoption of organic cultivation of currants that certireges aspeciregc technology of production emphasizing the productrsquos qualitativecharacteristics and especially its hygienic traditional and ordfwholesomeordmproperties The changing market notions of quality geared this regulationaiming to satisfy contemporary consumer needs

Meso levelMarsden (1995) has accurately described the way in which macro-environmentchanges have in the last decades affected the structures-relations formed atthe meso level As he states ordfthe overall effect (of global changes) has been ashift in power and policy in the last decade from a strong nationalstrategyweak local framework to a weak national strategystrong localframeworkordm (Marsden 1995 p 294) In the case of currant cultivation in Greecethe macro-level developments have informed the national context in two

IJSE303

224

interrelated aspects First by introducing a system of quality speciregcations inagriculture and especially the rules on certiregcates of PDOs PGIs andtraditional specialty guaranteed (TSG) the EU attempted to re-regulate qualityaway from its traditional concept to an association with particular places orregions Thus despite the fact that quality of produced currants was regulatedaccording to the physical characteristics of the product in three categories ofquality as A B and C the Greek state submitted an application to the EU andwas granted a PDO certiregcation for currants produced in the oldergeographical zone of quality A production Second in the early 1990s theproduction aid system for dried grapes was gradually replaced by a system ofregxed aid per hectare of harvested specialized area as a response to negotiationsand agreements with the World Trade Organization (WTO)

These developments signaled to producers that in the light of evolutions inthe global markets quality rather than quantity should support incomes Pan-European surveys conregrm the changing consumer needs and especially thegreat value placed to products associated to particular places and geographicregions (Flash Eurobarometer 1996) signifying a shift towards a logic ofquality as opposed to a productivist logic (Allaire and Sylvander 1997) Ilberyet al (2001) argue that this shift back toward local and dedicated productspresents new opportunities for producers still embedded in traditionalproduction methods or seeking to re-embed themselves in such methods

Micro levelBoth the macro and meso environments have shaped the immediate (micro)environment that currant producers face by means of structuring their incomethe resources they own the market they target and their power to negotiateThe price received by producers is made up of the market price of the productplus the per hectare subsidy which for a farmer with the mean per hectareproduction accounts for almost 60 percent of the total price heshe receivesThis per hectare payment is in favor of the small farms or the farms withmedium or low production which are usually located in mountainous and lessfavored non-irrigated areas The price of quality A currants which now bear aPDO certiregcation is consistently higher than that of quality B and C while thedifference in the price of quality B and C currants is not signiregcant Moreoverthe price of organic currants irrespective of the place of production isconsistently higher than that of the conventional product and mostimportantly is not signiregcantly differentiated among quality categories A Bor C

The socio-cultural and economic base of currant cultivation in Greece is bestattributed by the notion of family farming in terms of the goal orientation offarmers and their families the production and reproduction patterns and theirsystem of values norms and beliefs All elements of the micro level

Socio-economicsof niche market

creation

225

environment inform and are being informed by the individual identity ofproducers

The decision-making processThe structures-relations described above undergo a process of comprehensionby individual producers That is all three levels are incorporated into adecision-making tree that depicts the processes of interaction between formaland informal factors A core element characterizing this process is the way inwhich producers perceive these environments Figure 2 shows a decision-making tree under ordfindividual-perceptionordm process of comprehension

Figure 2Decision-makingtree underindividual-perception

IJSE303

226

This process begins as soon as the actor in this case the producer identireges aproblem or an opportunity existing in the environment in which sheheoperates and in our case this is the relocalization of quality A subconsciousprocess is almost immediately activated during which the actor assessesherhis ability to solve the problem or proregt by the available opportunity Thisprocess involves the analysis of all facets of the problemopportunity A fairlyknowledgeable actor will be able to decode the structure-relations underlyingthe problemopportunity shehe is faced with If this is the case the actorrsquosdecision involves taking action in order either to solve the problem or takeadvantage from the opportunity to improve herhis current position In anyother case the actor may decide not to undertake action due to either limitedinformation or bounded comprehension Action therefore involves the processof a consciously designed decision in either direction Knowledge in that senserefers to an individualrsquos inherent capacity to imagine a problem or anopportunity ie to decode its nature This capacity is built ie enhanced andconstrained by conditions such as information education connectivenessinclusiveness values norms and beliefs and the resources owned by theindividual

Data and methodologySampleThe decision process postulated by the social ecology approach presentedabove was tested using a sample of Korinthian currant producers collected inthe framework of a multidisciplinary EU research project A questionnairesurvey with face-to-face interviews was carried out with an objective to contact250 producers in the major currant producing areas of Greece including areasin the quality A zone now a denominated zone and areas in quality B and Czones An initial questionnaire was pilot tested with 20 producers Producerswere sampled from registries were contacted in advance and were interviewedby trained personnel in pre-arranged meetings The survey resulted to 239usable questionnaires From the 239 farmers surveyed 115 are located insidethe class A production zone and 124 outside ie are located in areas producingquality B and C currants Of these 239 farmers 89 had adopted the uprootingscheme 53 within quality A class and 36 outside it Finally 73 farmers haveadopted organic cultivation and 34 of them are located in quality class A and 39outside while of the 73 farmers who have adopted organic cultivation 41 hadalso made use of the uprooting scheme

Through the survey a wide range of information concerning farm and farmhousehold characteristics was collected The collected information was used toproxy some key explanatory variables identireged in the individual farmerrsquosdecision-making process depicted in Figure 2 The major decision to bequantitatively modeled (dependent variable) is the adoption of organicagriculture ie the decision to participate to a policy scheme provided at the

Socio-economicsof niche market

creation

227

macro-level Again at the macro level the provision by the EU and theconsequent adoption of the uprooting scheme by a farmer should be consideredas a major explanatory variable Prior adoption of the uprooting scheme showsthat farmers are familiar with the operation of EU policies and have attempted(successfully or not) to reduce and restructure their production base Prioradoption of policy schemes has been widely used to denote informed farmers orfarmers with a good network of information collection (Saha et al 1994)

At the meso level the statersquos response to localize currant production bysubmitting and successfully being granted a PDO certiregcation for quality Aareas of production is a major explanatory variable encapsulating besidesnational reactions to macro actions of regulation regionallocal environmentalcharacteristics of production Finally at the micro level a number of variablesremacrecting the availability of farm resources and the quality of human capitalmay be used Important resource variables are the size of land and the availablefarm income as a possible source of regnancing investments From the manyavailable human capital characteristics (education training experience etc)we choose education as a proxy of the farmerrsquos ability to identify a ordfproblemordm oran ordfopportunityordm and realize hisher decision by carrying out the requiredoperations Off-farm employment indicates the time resources devoted toagriculture and thus the ability and willingness to adopt new productionstrategies but it also indicates the ability to collect information concerning thelocal and regional labor markets in the other sectors of the economy (Damianosand Skuras 1996)

Statistical modelThe basic dependent variable is a dichotomous variable indicating adoption ornon-adoption of organic cultivation by currant producers Due to thedichotomous nature of the dependent variable a probit statistical model isemployed The deregnitions and basic statistics of the independent (explanatory)variables are shown in Table I

One of the major dependent variables concerns with prior adoption ofthe scheme offered for the uprooting and restructuring of older vineyardsBeing the outcome of a decision to adopt a scheme one may suspect thatthis variable is exogenously determined by a number of other variablesand thus is endogenous to the adoption of the organic cultivation probitmodel For this reason a second probit model was estimated with the priordecision to adopt or not adopt the uprooting scheme as a dependentvariable

An examination of the simultaneous determination of these two probitequations (adoption or non adoption of organic cultivation and of the uprootingscheme) and the estimation of relevant exogeneity tests (Blundell and Smith1994) shows that the decision to uproot is exogenous to the decision to adoptorganic cultivation and thus the two probit models may be estimated

IJSE303

228

separately The decision to adopt the uprooting scheme is a decision concerningwith elements of the macro environment as this scheme was offered by the EUOwing to the interesting results derived from regtting the probit model ofadopting the uprooting scheme we decided to present the results from thismodel alongside with the results from the model concerning adoption oforganic cultivation

At the upper part of Table II the coefregcient estimates of the adoption oforganic cultivation probit model are presented Then in the same Table II thecoefregcient estimates for the decision to adopt the uprooting scheme are shownIn probit models the coefregcient estimates do not accept the same interpretationas the corresponding coefregcients in linear regression models

Thus we estimate the marginal effects which show the effect of increasingone of the independent variables on the probabilities of adopting organiccultivation and of adopting the uproot scheme respectively For dummyindependent variables the marginal effects are analyzed as discrete or relativechanges when the respective dummy takes its two different values 0 and 1respectively (Green 1997) The marginal effects of the independent variables onthe probabilities are presented in Table III for adopters only For non-adoptersthe coefregcient estimates are the same as for adopters but with opposite sign

Separate tests examining the null hypothesis that individual coefregcients arezero can be calculated by analogy with the t-test of the conventional linearregression model A joint test of the null hypothesis that all the parametersassociated with the explanatory variables are equal to zero is a chi-square testbased on the maximised likelihood A goodness-of-regt measure based on thelikelihood-ratio test statistic usually reported as McFaddenrsquos (1979) pseudo-R 2

Variable name Description Mean Std dev

ORGANIC Dependent variable 1 = farmer has adoptedorganic cultivation 0 = otherwise

0305 0462

UPROOT Dependent variable 1 = farmer had adopteduprooting schemes 0 = otherwise

0372 0484

LAND1 Size of currant cultivation before adopting theuprooting scheme in stremma (10stremma = 1ha)

16994 10245

LAND2 Size of currant cultivation before adopting theorganic cultivation scheme (10 stremma = 1 ha)

16238 10515

EDUCAT 0 = Basic education or less 1 = more 0628 0484EMPLOY Dummy variable 0 = major income from

agriculture 1 = otherwise0431 0500

LOCAT Dummy variable 0 = farmer located inside thePDO zone

0519 0501

INCOMEa Agricultural income from all agriculturalenterprises in million Greek drachmas

4170 2372

Note a 1 Euro= 34075 Greek drachmas

Table IDescription and

descriptive statisticsof dependent and

explanatoryvariables

Socio-economicsof niche market

creation

229

measure or rho-square is also computed (Maddala 1983) Besides theendogeneity test referred to above speciregcation test analysis involved a test forheteroskedasticity based on generalized residuals and a test for omittedvariables using predicted values of the dependent variable (Maddala 1995)

ResultsAdoption of organic cultivationAs is shown in Table II the likelihood ratio test is highly signiregcant with ascore of 52935 and the corresponding goodness-of-regt r 2 measure indicates avery satisfactory regt The model correctly predicts almost 77 per cent (184 out of239) of the cases Education agricultural income and the adoption of theuprooting scheme are highly signiregcant Interpreting the marginal effects ofTable III we see that an increase of the total agricultural income by 1 millionGreek drachmas increases the probability that organic farming has beenadopted by 62 percent The probability that organic farming has been adoptedis 14 percent higher for a farmer having higher education or more than forfarmers having only basic education and all other characteristics the same Theprobability that a farmer has adopted organic cultivation is 138 percent higher

Coefregcient estimate Asymptotic t-test

Adoption of organic cultivation (dependent variable ORGANIC)Constant 2 2077 2 6401LAND2 2 0013 2 1243INCOME 0186 3842EDUCAT 0830 4080EMPLOY 2 0102 2 0530LOCAT 0243 1280UPROOT 0838 4220Log-likelihood 2 120614Restricted log-likelihood 2 147081Chi-square (df) 52935(6)McFaddenrsquos r2

0180 of correct predictions 7699

Adoption of the uprooting scheme (dependent variable UPROOT)Constant 2 0387 2 1576LAND1 0304 3523EDUCAT 2 0165 2 0936EMPLOY 2 0378 2 2134LOCAT 2 0426 2 2467Log-likelihood 2 147188Restricted log-likelihood 2 157791Chi-square (df) 21207(5)McFaddenrsquos r2

0067 of correct predictions 7531

Note Indicates signiregcance at the 5 percent level of signiregcance

Table IICoefregcientestimates andmarginal effects ofthe probit models

IJSE303

230

if the farmer has already adopted the uprooting scheme In this model the sizeof the currant plantation prior to adoption of organic cultivation employmentstatus and location are not statistically signiregcant However as we will seethese variables highly inmacruence the decision that a farmer has adopted theuprooting scheme and thus we may argue that exercise an indirect effect onthe decision to adopt organic cultivation

Adoption of uprootingAs is shown in Table II the likelihood ratio test is highly signiregcant with ascore of 21207 and the corresponding goodness-of-regt r 2 measure indicates agood regt The model correctly predicts 7531 percent (180 out of 239) of the cases

Variable name Estimated marginal effects

Adoption of the uprooting scheme (dependent variable UPROOT)LAND1 0011EDUCAT

EDUCAT = 0 2 0064EDUCAT = 1 2 0060EDUCAT change 2 0004EMPLOYEMPLOY = 0 2 0148EMPLOY = 1 2 0128EMPLOY change 2 0020

LOCATLOCAT = 0 2 0168LOCAT = 1 2 0145LOCAT change 2 0023

Adoption of organic cultivation (dependent variable ORGANIC)LAND2 2 0004INCOME 0062EDUCAT

EDUCAT = 0 0178EDUCAT = 1 0318EDUCAT change 2 0140

EMPLOYEMPLOY = 0 2 0035EMPLOY = 1 2 0033EMPLOY change 2 0002

LOCATLOCAT = 0 0075LOCAT = 1 0087LOCAT change 2 0012

UPROOTUPROOT = 0 0196UPROOT = 1 0334UPROOT change 2 0138

Table IIIMarginal effects of

explanatoryvariables

Socio-economicsof niche market

creation

231

From the four variables used in the analysis only education is not statisticallysigniregcant The size of the currant plantation prior to uprooting indicates thatthe higher the size the higher the probability that the farmer had adopted theuprooting scheme Interpreting the marginal effects of Table III for everyadditional hectare of currant plantation (ten stremmata) the probability that theuprooting scheme has been adopted increases by 11 percent The probabilitythat the uprooting scheme has been adopted is higher for full-time farmers thanfor part-time farmers by 2 percent indicating the willingness of full-timefarmers to take advantage of the scheme and restructure their vineyard Theprobability that uprooting has been adopted is higher among farmers locatedinside the class A production zone by 23 percent again indicating the highervalue of restructuring production within the regulated zone of high qualityrather than outside it

It is evident from the analysis so far that the decision to adopt the uprootingscheme provided at the macro-level is highly inmacruenced by elements at themeso-level (location) and elements at the micro-level (size of operationorganisation of time) Consequently the decision to adopt organic cultivation ishighly inmacruenced by prior decisions taken at the macro-level (adoption of theuprooting scheme) and directly or indirectly elements of the meso level withmost important the location the associated PDO certiregcation and elements ofthe micro-level The analysis reveals the interconnected nature of the threeenvironmental levels and their signiregcance in simultaneously inmacruencing eachother Failing to understand and incorporate such interrelated qualitativerelations in the quantitative analysis will lead on to biased and unsatisfactoryresults

ConclusionsThe objective of the present paper is to perform a multi-level quantitative andqualitative analysis of the farmerrsquos decision to adopt organic currantcultivation Social ecology provided the context for this analysis enabling usboth to identify key factors and quantify their importance under the scope ofindividualrsquos perception of the environment Apart form the study of personalsocio-economic characteristics emphasis is placed on the way in which farmersunderstand locality on the one hand and prior participation to policy schemeson the other Analysis of the current policy and market environment indicatesthe existence of two interrelated trends The regrst refers to an ordfopportunitydevelopmentordm nature of policy interventions that seeks to provide and supportmeaningful alternatives to farmers in the peripheral rural areas The secondrefers to a growing marketrsquos contest toward realizing locational comparativeadvantages Quality increasingly related to location supports an outlet towardthe creation of a niche market The aim therefore is to provide evidence ofwhether or not farmers understand organic agriculture as an opportunity todifferentiate their product and enter a niche market

IJSE303

232

Compared with previous regulatory schemes organic cultivation givesfarmers the opportunity to develop a speciregc image for their product based onquality assurance In that sense organic cultivation is a highly ordfimageableordmscheme consisting of a more risky choice with higher however anticipatedbeneregts This is shown by the peculiar fact that education is an importantfactor regarding the adoption of organic cultivation whereas it does not affectadoption of previous policy schemes and in particular of the uprooting schemeThis may be related to the ability of better elaboration of a whole system ofinformation to reduce risk

For producers under the PDO certiregcation ie those in the quality A zone ofcultivation organic agriculture seems to be a follow-up scheme as most of themhad previously adopted the uprooting scheme as well This indicates a strongpolicy orientation a relationship of trust regarding the design and applicationof measures to sustain the distinct market position they already possess andthe beneregts they gain from that position In contrast for the majority ofproducers belonging to the class B and C zones of cultivation adoption oforganic agriculture is not a follow-up scheme Most of the producers in thisclass category have entered organic agriculture without prior participation tothe uprooting scheme For these farmers organic agriculture is the shift back toquality signaled by the EU and WTO attempts to control and suppress theproductivist logic For these producers it is reasonable to assume that theyhave identireged organic cultivation as a niche market offering an opportunity todifferentiate their product improve their market position and bridge the pricedifferential resultant from quality zoning and the consequent PDO certiregcationResults of the quantitative analysis indeed show that belonging to class A ofcultivation is not a statistically signiregcant variable determining the adoption oforganic cultivation and thus the relocalization of quality achieved through thePDO denomination is not the determining factor of a farmerrsquos decision to adoptorganic agriculture as a policy scheme

References

Allaire G and Sylvander B (1997) ordfQualiteAcirc speAcircciregque et systeAacuteme drsquo innovation territorialeordmCahiers drsquoEAcirc conomies et Sociologie Rurales Vol 4 pp 30-59

Bell D and Valentine G (1997) Consuming Geographies We Are Where We Eat RoutledgeLondon

Binder A (1972) ordfA new context for psychology social ecologyordm American Psychologist Vol 27pp 903-8

Binder A Stokols D and Catalano R (1975) ordfSocial ecology an emerging multidisciplineordmJournal of Environmental Education Vol 7 pp 32-43

Blundell R and Smith J (1994) ordfCoherency and estimation in simultaneous models withcensored or qualitative dependent variablesordm Journal of Econometrics Vol 64 pp 355-73

Bromley D (2001) ordfMad cows drugged cows and juggled genesordm Choices 2nd quarter pp 6-9

Clark G Bowler I Cockett A Ilbery B and Shaw A (1997) ordfInstitutions alternative farmingsystems and local reregulationordm Environment and Planning A Vol 29 pp 731-45

Socio-economicsof niche market

creation

233

Damianos D and Skuras D (1996) ordfFarm business and the development of alternative farmenterprises an empirical analysis in Greeceordm Journal of Rural Studies Vol 12 pp 273-83

Fine B (1994) ordfTowards a political economy of foodordm Review of International Political EconomyVol 1 pp 519-45

Flash Eurobarometer (1996) Les Labels de QualiteAcirc Eurobarometer Special Report 93commission of the European Communities Brussels

Gilg A and Battershill M (1998) ordfQuality farm food in Europe a possible alternative to theindustrialised food market and to current agri-environmental policies lessons fromFranceordm Food Policy Vol 23 pp 25-40

Glennie P and Thrift N (1996) ordfConsumption shopping and genderordm in Lowe M andWrigley N (Eds) Retailing Consumption and Capital Longman Group Harlowpp 221-38

Goodman D and Redclift M (1994) ordfConstructing a political economy of foodordm Review ofInternational Political Economy Vol 1 pp 547-52

Goodman D and Watts M (1994) ordfReconregguring the rural or fording the divide capitalistrestructuring and the global agro-food systemordm Environment and Planning D pp 1-49

Green W (1997) Econometric Analysis Prentice-Hall International London

Gronow J (1993) ordfWhat is good tasteordm Social Science Information Vol 32 pp 279-301

Ilbery B and Kneafsey M (1999) ordfNiche markets and regional speciality food products inEurope towards a research agendaordm Environment and Planning A Vol 31 pp 2207-22

Ilbery B Kneafsey M SoEgravederlund A and Dimara E (2001) ordfQuality imagery and marketingproducer perspectives on quality products and services in the lagging rural regions of theEuropean Unionordm Geograregska Annaler Vol 83 pp 27-40

Jackson P and Holbrook B (1995) ordfMultiple meanings shopping and the cultural politics ofidentityordm Environment and Planning A Vol 27 pp 1913-30

Knox PL (1991) ordfThe restless urban landscape economic and socio-cultural change and thetransformation of metropolitan Washington DCordm Annals of the Association of AmericanGeographers Vol 81 pp 181-209

McFadden D (1979) ordfQuantitative methods for analysing travel behaviour of individuals somerecent developmentsordm in Hensher DA and Stopher PR (Eds) Behavioural TravelModelling Croom Helm London pp 279-318

McNaghten P and Urry J (1998) Contested Natures Sage London

McRobbie A (1989) ordfSecond-hand dresses and the role of the rag marketordm in McRobbie A (Ed)Zoot Suits and Second-hand Dresses An Anthology of Fashion and Music MacmillanLondon pp 23-49

Maddala GS (1983) Limited Dependent and Qualitative Variables in Econometrics EconometricSociety Monographs Cambridge University Press Cambridge

Maddala GS (1995) ordfSpeciregcation tests in limited dependentvariable modelsordm in Maddala GSPhillips PCB and Srinivasan TN (Eds) Advances in Economics and QuantitativeEconomics Blackwell Cambridge MA pp 1-49

Marsden T (1995) ordfBeyond agriculture regulating the new rural spacesordm Journal of RuralStudies Vol 11 pp 285-96

Marsden T (1998) ordfNew rural territories regulating the differentiated rural spaceordm Journal ofRural Studies Vol 14 pp 107-17

IJSE303

234

each level ie the ordfenvironmentsordm which are best described by a pyramid of thestructures-relations underlying them

A three level analysis of adopting organic cultivation of currantsMacro levelThe process of globalization and the need to promote sustainable andcompetitive food production systems have both informed EUrsquos agriculturalpolicy measures that lead to the transformation of agricultural food productionand consumption patterns Indeed regulation and consumption areacknowledged as key new parameters of rural development (uneven inmany cases) interacting at different spatial and temporal scales (Marsden1995)

An important aspect of the macro environment therefore is the informationdelivered to producers regarding the changing agricultural economy and thetransformation of food supply chains worldwide (Marsden 1998) Oneimportant element of this transformation is a set of changes linked to attemptsto make quality more central to how food supply chains operate Emphasis onquality is identireged as an important strategy for the future development of thefarming and food industries within the process of reshaping consumptionpatterns and demand for agricultural food production (Morris and Young2000)

The evolution of EU policies and regulations clearly shows an attempt tocope with international changes in the agro-food sector In the case of currantcultivation in Greece the macro developments and especially two measuresintroduced since 1981 the year of Greecersquos accession to the then EU havesigniregcantly affected the evolution of the sector Regulation 144288 introducedsubsidies for uprooting older plantations in an attempt to cope with productionsurpluses and competition from non-EU currant producing countriesRegulation 39994 introduced measures to improve the quality of productionand assisted the adoption of organic cultivation of currants that certireges aspeciregc technology of production emphasizing the productrsquos qualitativecharacteristics and especially its hygienic traditional and ordfwholesomeordmproperties The changing market notions of quality geared this regulationaiming to satisfy contemporary consumer needs

Meso levelMarsden (1995) has accurately described the way in which macro-environmentchanges have in the last decades affected the structures-relations formed atthe meso level As he states ordfthe overall effect (of global changes) has been ashift in power and policy in the last decade from a strong nationalstrategyweak local framework to a weak national strategystrong localframeworkordm (Marsden 1995 p 294) In the case of currant cultivation in Greecethe macro-level developments have informed the national context in two

IJSE303

224

interrelated aspects First by introducing a system of quality speciregcations inagriculture and especially the rules on certiregcates of PDOs PGIs andtraditional specialty guaranteed (TSG) the EU attempted to re-regulate qualityaway from its traditional concept to an association with particular places orregions Thus despite the fact that quality of produced currants was regulatedaccording to the physical characteristics of the product in three categories ofquality as A B and C the Greek state submitted an application to the EU andwas granted a PDO certiregcation for currants produced in the oldergeographical zone of quality A production Second in the early 1990s theproduction aid system for dried grapes was gradually replaced by a system ofregxed aid per hectare of harvested specialized area as a response to negotiationsand agreements with the World Trade Organization (WTO)

These developments signaled to producers that in the light of evolutions inthe global markets quality rather than quantity should support incomes Pan-European surveys conregrm the changing consumer needs and especially thegreat value placed to products associated to particular places and geographicregions (Flash Eurobarometer 1996) signifying a shift towards a logic ofquality as opposed to a productivist logic (Allaire and Sylvander 1997) Ilberyet al (2001) argue that this shift back toward local and dedicated productspresents new opportunities for producers still embedded in traditionalproduction methods or seeking to re-embed themselves in such methods

Micro levelBoth the macro and meso environments have shaped the immediate (micro)environment that currant producers face by means of structuring their incomethe resources they own the market they target and their power to negotiateThe price received by producers is made up of the market price of the productplus the per hectare subsidy which for a farmer with the mean per hectareproduction accounts for almost 60 percent of the total price heshe receivesThis per hectare payment is in favor of the small farms or the farms withmedium or low production which are usually located in mountainous and lessfavored non-irrigated areas The price of quality A currants which now bear aPDO certiregcation is consistently higher than that of quality B and C while thedifference in the price of quality B and C currants is not signiregcant Moreoverthe price of organic currants irrespective of the place of production isconsistently higher than that of the conventional product and mostimportantly is not signiregcantly differentiated among quality categories A Bor C

The socio-cultural and economic base of currant cultivation in Greece is bestattributed by the notion of family farming in terms of the goal orientation offarmers and their families the production and reproduction patterns and theirsystem of values norms and beliefs All elements of the micro level

Socio-economicsof niche market

creation

225

environment inform and are being informed by the individual identity ofproducers

The decision-making processThe structures-relations described above undergo a process of comprehensionby individual producers That is all three levels are incorporated into adecision-making tree that depicts the processes of interaction between formaland informal factors A core element characterizing this process is the way inwhich producers perceive these environments Figure 2 shows a decision-making tree under ordfindividual-perceptionordm process of comprehension

Figure 2Decision-makingtree underindividual-perception

IJSE303

226

This process begins as soon as the actor in this case the producer identireges aproblem or an opportunity existing in the environment in which sheheoperates and in our case this is the relocalization of quality A subconsciousprocess is almost immediately activated during which the actor assessesherhis ability to solve the problem or proregt by the available opportunity Thisprocess involves the analysis of all facets of the problemopportunity A fairlyknowledgeable actor will be able to decode the structure-relations underlyingthe problemopportunity shehe is faced with If this is the case the actorrsquosdecision involves taking action in order either to solve the problem or takeadvantage from the opportunity to improve herhis current position In anyother case the actor may decide not to undertake action due to either limitedinformation or bounded comprehension Action therefore involves the processof a consciously designed decision in either direction Knowledge in that senserefers to an individualrsquos inherent capacity to imagine a problem or anopportunity ie to decode its nature This capacity is built ie enhanced andconstrained by conditions such as information education connectivenessinclusiveness values norms and beliefs and the resources owned by theindividual

Data and methodologySampleThe decision process postulated by the social ecology approach presentedabove was tested using a sample of Korinthian currant producers collected inthe framework of a multidisciplinary EU research project A questionnairesurvey with face-to-face interviews was carried out with an objective to contact250 producers in the major currant producing areas of Greece including areasin the quality A zone now a denominated zone and areas in quality B and Czones An initial questionnaire was pilot tested with 20 producers Producerswere sampled from registries were contacted in advance and were interviewedby trained personnel in pre-arranged meetings The survey resulted to 239usable questionnaires From the 239 farmers surveyed 115 are located insidethe class A production zone and 124 outside ie are located in areas producingquality B and C currants Of these 239 farmers 89 had adopted the uprootingscheme 53 within quality A class and 36 outside it Finally 73 farmers haveadopted organic cultivation and 34 of them are located in quality class A and 39outside while of the 73 farmers who have adopted organic cultivation 41 hadalso made use of the uprooting scheme

Through the survey a wide range of information concerning farm and farmhousehold characteristics was collected The collected information was used toproxy some key explanatory variables identireged in the individual farmerrsquosdecision-making process depicted in Figure 2 The major decision to bequantitatively modeled (dependent variable) is the adoption of organicagriculture ie the decision to participate to a policy scheme provided at the

Socio-economicsof niche market

creation

227

macro-level Again at the macro level the provision by the EU and theconsequent adoption of the uprooting scheme by a farmer should be consideredas a major explanatory variable Prior adoption of the uprooting scheme showsthat farmers are familiar with the operation of EU policies and have attempted(successfully or not) to reduce and restructure their production base Prioradoption of policy schemes has been widely used to denote informed farmers orfarmers with a good network of information collection (Saha et al 1994)

At the meso level the statersquos response to localize currant production bysubmitting and successfully being granted a PDO certiregcation for quality Aareas of production is a major explanatory variable encapsulating besidesnational reactions to macro actions of regulation regionallocal environmentalcharacteristics of production Finally at the micro level a number of variablesremacrecting the availability of farm resources and the quality of human capitalmay be used Important resource variables are the size of land and the availablefarm income as a possible source of regnancing investments From the manyavailable human capital characteristics (education training experience etc)we choose education as a proxy of the farmerrsquos ability to identify a ordfproblemordm oran ordfopportunityordm and realize hisher decision by carrying out the requiredoperations Off-farm employment indicates the time resources devoted toagriculture and thus the ability and willingness to adopt new productionstrategies but it also indicates the ability to collect information concerning thelocal and regional labor markets in the other sectors of the economy (Damianosand Skuras 1996)

Statistical modelThe basic dependent variable is a dichotomous variable indicating adoption ornon-adoption of organic cultivation by currant producers Due to thedichotomous nature of the dependent variable a probit statistical model isemployed The deregnitions and basic statistics of the independent (explanatory)variables are shown in Table I

One of the major dependent variables concerns with prior adoption ofthe scheme offered for the uprooting and restructuring of older vineyardsBeing the outcome of a decision to adopt a scheme one may suspect thatthis variable is exogenously determined by a number of other variablesand thus is endogenous to the adoption of the organic cultivation probitmodel For this reason a second probit model was estimated with the priordecision to adopt or not adopt the uprooting scheme as a dependentvariable

An examination of the simultaneous determination of these two probitequations (adoption or non adoption of organic cultivation and of the uprootingscheme) and the estimation of relevant exogeneity tests (Blundell and Smith1994) shows that the decision to uproot is exogenous to the decision to adoptorganic cultivation and thus the two probit models may be estimated

IJSE303

228

separately The decision to adopt the uprooting scheme is a decision concerningwith elements of the macro environment as this scheme was offered by the EUOwing to the interesting results derived from regtting the probit model ofadopting the uprooting scheme we decided to present the results from thismodel alongside with the results from the model concerning adoption oforganic cultivation

At the upper part of Table II the coefregcient estimates of the adoption oforganic cultivation probit model are presented Then in the same Table II thecoefregcient estimates for the decision to adopt the uprooting scheme are shownIn probit models the coefregcient estimates do not accept the same interpretationas the corresponding coefregcients in linear regression models

Thus we estimate the marginal effects which show the effect of increasingone of the independent variables on the probabilities of adopting organiccultivation and of adopting the uproot scheme respectively For dummyindependent variables the marginal effects are analyzed as discrete or relativechanges when the respective dummy takes its two different values 0 and 1respectively (Green 1997) The marginal effects of the independent variables onthe probabilities are presented in Table III for adopters only For non-adoptersthe coefregcient estimates are the same as for adopters but with opposite sign

Separate tests examining the null hypothesis that individual coefregcients arezero can be calculated by analogy with the t-test of the conventional linearregression model A joint test of the null hypothesis that all the parametersassociated with the explanatory variables are equal to zero is a chi-square testbased on the maximised likelihood A goodness-of-regt measure based on thelikelihood-ratio test statistic usually reported as McFaddenrsquos (1979) pseudo-R 2

Variable name Description Mean Std dev

ORGANIC Dependent variable 1 = farmer has adoptedorganic cultivation 0 = otherwise

0305 0462

UPROOT Dependent variable 1 = farmer had adopteduprooting schemes 0 = otherwise

0372 0484

LAND1 Size of currant cultivation before adopting theuprooting scheme in stremma (10stremma = 1ha)

16994 10245

LAND2 Size of currant cultivation before adopting theorganic cultivation scheme (10 stremma = 1 ha)

16238 10515

EDUCAT 0 = Basic education or less 1 = more 0628 0484EMPLOY Dummy variable 0 = major income from

agriculture 1 = otherwise0431 0500

LOCAT Dummy variable 0 = farmer located inside thePDO zone

0519 0501

INCOMEa Agricultural income from all agriculturalenterprises in million Greek drachmas

4170 2372

Note a 1 Euro= 34075 Greek drachmas

Table IDescription and

descriptive statisticsof dependent and

explanatoryvariables

Socio-economicsof niche market

creation

229

measure or rho-square is also computed (Maddala 1983) Besides theendogeneity test referred to above speciregcation test analysis involved a test forheteroskedasticity based on generalized residuals and a test for omittedvariables using predicted values of the dependent variable (Maddala 1995)

ResultsAdoption of organic cultivationAs is shown in Table II the likelihood ratio test is highly signiregcant with ascore of 52935 and the corresponding goodness-of-regt r 2 measure indicates avery satisfactory regt The model correctly predicts almost 77 per cent (184 out of239) of the cases Education agricultural income and the adoption of theuprooting scheme are highly signiregcant Interpreting the marginal effects ofTable III we see that an increase of the total agricultural income by 1 millionGreek drachmas increases the probability that organic farming has beenadopted by 62 percent The probability that organic farming has been adoptedis 14 percent higher for a farmer having higher education or more than forfarmers having only basic education and all other characteristics the same Theprobability that a farmer has adopted organic cultivation is 138 percent higher

Coefregcient estimate Asymptotic t-test

Adoption of organic cultivation (dependent variable ORGANIC)Constant 2 2077 2 6401LAND2 2 0013 2 1243INCOME 0186 3842EDUCAT 0830 4080EMPLOY 2 0102 2 0530LOCAT 0243 1280UPROOT 0838 4220Log-likelihood 2 120614Restricted log-likelihood 2 147081Chi-square (df) 52935(6)McFaddenrsquos r2

0180 of correct predictions 7699

Adoption of the uprooting scheme (dependent variable UPROOT)Constant 2 0387 2 1576LAND1 0304 3523EDUCAT 2 0165 2 0936EMPLOY 2 0378 2 2134LOCAT 2 0426 2 2467Log-likelihood 2 147188Restricted log-likelihood 2 157791Chi-square (df) 21207(5)McFaddenrsquos r2

0067 of correct predictions 7531

Note Indicates signiregcance at the 5 percent level of signiregcance

Table IICoefregcientestimates andmarginal effects ofthe probit models

IJSE303

230

if the farmer has already adopted the uprooting scheme In this model the sizeof the currant plantation prior to adoption of organic cultivation employmentstatus and location are not statistically signiregcant However as we will seethese variables highly inmacruence the decision that a farmer has adopted theuprooting scheme and thus we may argue that exercise an indirect effect onthe decision to adopt organic cultivation

Adoption of uprootingAs is shown in Table II the likelihood ratio test is highly signiregcant with ascore of 21207 and the corresponding goodness-of-regt r 2 measure indicates agood regt The model correctly predicts 7531 percent (180 out of 239) of the cases

Variable name Estimated marginal effects

Adoption of the uprooting scheme (dependent variable UPROOT)LAND1 0011EDUCAT

EDUCAT = 0 2 0064EDUCAT = 1 2 0060EDUCAT change 2 0004EMPLOYEMPLOY = 0 2 0148EMPLOY = 1 2 0128EMPLOY change 2 0020

LOCATLOCAT = 0 2 0168LOCAT = 1 2 0145LOCAT change 2 0023

Adoption of organic cultivation (dependent variable ORGANIC)LAND2 2 0004INCOME 0062EDUCAT

EDUCAT = 0 0178EDUCAT = 1 0318EDUCAT change 2 0140

EMPLOYEMPLOY = 0 2 0035EMPLOY = 1 2 0033EMPLOY change 2 0002

LOCATLOCAT = 0 0075LOCAT = 1 0087LOCAT change 2 0012

UPROOTUPROOT = 0 0196UPROOT = 1 0334UPROOT change 2 0138

Table IIIMarginal effects of

explanatoryvariables

Socio-economicsof niche market

creation

231

From the four variables used in the analysis only education is not statisticallysigniregcant The size of the currant plantation prior to uprooting indicates thatthe higher the size the higher the probability that the farmer had adopted theuprooting scheme Interpreting the marginal effects of Table III for everyadditional hectare of currant plantation (ten stremmata) the probability that theuprooting scheme has been adopted increases by 11 percent The probabilitythat the uprooting scheme has been adopted is higher for full-time farmers thanfor part-time farmers by 2 percent indicating the willingness of full-timefarmers to take advantage of the scheme and restructure their vineyard Theprobability that uprooting has been adopted is higher among farmers locatedinside the class A production zone by 23 percent again indicating the highervalue of restructuring production within the regulated zone of high qualityrather than outside it

It is evident from the analysis so far that the decision to adopt the uprootingscheme provided at the macro-level is highly inmacruenced by elements at themeso-level (location) and elements at the micro-level (size of operationorganisation of time) Consequently the decision to adopt organic cultivation ishighly inmacruenced by prior decisions taken at the macro-level (adoption of theuprooting scheme) and directly or indirectly elements of the meso level withmost important the location the associated PDO certiregcation and elements ofthe micro-level The analysis reveals the interconnected nature of the threeenvironmental levels and their signiregcance in simultaneously inmacruencing eachother Failing to understand and incorporate such interrelated qualitativerelations in the quantitative analysis will lead on to biased and unsatisfactoryresults

ConclusionsThe objective of the present paper is to perform a multi-level quantitative andqualitative analysis of the farmerrsquos decision to adopt organic currantcultivation Social ecology provided the context for this analysis enabling usboth to identify key factors and quantify their importance under the scope ofindividualrsquos perception of the environment Apart form the study of personalsocio-economic characteristics emphasis is placed on the way in which farmersunderstand locality on the one hand and prior participation to policy schemeson the other Analysis of the current policy and market environment indicatesthe existence of two interrelated trends The regrst refers to an ordfopportunitydevelopmentordm nature of policy interventions that seeks to provide and supportmeaningful alternatives to farmers in the peripheral rural areas The secondrefers to a growing marketrsquos contest toward realizing locational comparativeadvantages Quality increasingly related to location supports an outlet towardthe creation of a niche market The aim therefore is to provide evidence ofwhether or not farmers understand organic agriculture as an opportunity todifferentiate their product and enter a niche market

IJSE303

232

Compared with previous regulatory schemes organic cultivation givesfarmers the opportunity to develop a speciregc image for their product based onquality assurance In that sense organic cultivation is a highly ordfimageableordmscheme consisting of a more risky choice with higher however anticipatedbeneregts This is shown by the peculiar fact that education is an importantfactor regarding the adoption of organic cultivation whereas it does not affectadoption of previous policy schemes and in particular of the uprooting schemeThis may be related to the ability of better elaboration of a whole system ofinformation to reduce risk

For producers under the PDO certiregcation ie those in the quality A zone ofcultivation organic agriculture seems to be a follow-up scheme as most of themhad previously adopted the uprooting scheme as well This indicates a strongpolicy orientation a relationship of trust regarding the design and applicationof measures to sustain the distinct market position they already possess andthe beneregts they gain from that position In contrast for the majority ofproducers belonging to the class B and C zones of cultivation adoption oforganic agriculture is not a follow-up scheme Most of the producers in thisclass category have entered organic agriculture without prior participation tothe uprooting scheme For these farmers organic agriculture is the shift back toquality signaled by the EU and WTO attempts to control and suppress theproductivist logic For these producers it is reasonable to assume that theyhave identireged organic cultivation as a niche market offering an opportunity todifferentiate their product improve their market position and bridge the pricedifferential resultant from quality zoning and the consequent PDO certiregcationResults of the quantitative analysis indeed show that belonging to class A ofcultivation is not a statistically signiregcant variable determining the adoption oforganic cultivation and thus the relocalization of quality achieved through thePDO denomination is not the determining factor of a farmerrsquos decision to adoptorganic agriculture as a policy scheme

References

Allaire G and Sylvander B (1997) ordfQualiteAcirc speAcircciregque et systeAacuteme drsquo innovation territorialeordmCahiers drsquoEAcirc conomies et Sociologie Rurales Vol 4 pp 30-59

Bell D and Valentine G (1997) Consuming Geographies We Are Where We Eat RoutledgeLondon

Binder A (1972) ordfA new context for psychology social ecologyordm American Psychologist Vol 27pp 903-8

Binder A Stokols D and Catalano R (1975) ordfSocial ecology an emerging multidisciplineordmJournal of Environmental Education Vol 7 pp 32-43

Blundell R and Smith J (1994) ordfCoherency and estimation in simultaneous models withcensored or qualitative dependent variablesordm Journal of Econometrics Vol 64 pp 355-73

Bromley D (2001) ordfMad cows drugged cows and juggled genesordm Choices 2nd quarter pp 6-9

Clark G Bowler I Cockett A Ilbery B and Shaw A (1997) ordfInstitutions alternative farmingsystems and local reregulationordm Environment and Planning A Vol 29 pp 731-45

Socio-economicsof niche market

creation

233

Damianos D and Skuras D (1996) ordfFarm business and the development of alternative farmenterprises an empirical analysis in Greeceordm Journal of Rural Studies Vol 12 pp 273-83

Fine B (1994) ordfTowards a political economy of foodordm Review of International Political EconomyVol 1 pp 519-45

Flash Eurobarometer (1996) Les Labels de QualiteAcirc Eurobarometer Special Report 93commission of the European Communities Brussels

Gilg A and Battershill M (1998) ordfQuality farm food in Europe a possible alternative to theindustrialised food market and to current agri-environmental policies lessons fromFranceordm Food Policy Vol 23 pp 25-40

Glennie P and Thrift N (1996) ordfConsumption shopping and genderordm in Lowe M andWrigley N (Eds) Retailing Consumption and Capital Longman Group Harlowpp 221-38

Goodman D and Redclift M (1994) ordfConstructing a political economy of foodordm Review ofInternational Political Economy Vol 1 pp 547-52

Goodman D and Watts M (1994) ordfReconregguring the rural or fording the divide capitalistrestructuring and the global agro-food systemordm Environment and Planning D pp 1-49

Green W (1997) Econometric Analysis Prentice-Hall International London

Gronow J (1993) ordfWhat is good tasteordm Social Science Information Vol 32 pp 279-301

Ilbery B and Kneafsey M (1999) ordfNiche markets and regional speciality food products inEurope towards a research agendaordm Environment and Planning A Vol 31 pp 2207-22

Ilbery B Kneafsey M SoEgravederlund A and Dimara E (2001) ordfQuality imagery and marketingproducer perspectives on quality products and services in the lagging rural regions of theEuropean Unionordm Geograregska Annaler Vol 83 pp 27-40

Jackson P and Holbrook B (1995) ordfMultiple meanings shopping and the cultural politics ofidentityordm Environment and Planning A Vol 27 pp 1913-30

Knox PL (1991) ordfThe restless urban landscape economic and socio-cultural change and thetransformation of metropolitan Washington DCordm Annals of the Association of AmericanGeographers Vol 81 pp 181-209

McFadden D (1979) ordfQuantitative methods for analysing travel behaviour of individuals somerecent developmentsordm in Hensher DA and Stopher PR (Eds) Behavioural TravelModelling Croom Helm London pp 279-318

McNaghten P and Urry J (1998) Contested Natures Sage London

McRobbie A (1989) ordfSecond-hand dresses and the role of the rag marketordm in McRobbie A (Ed)Zoot Suits and Second-hand Dresses An Anthology of Fashion and Music MacmillanLondon pp 23-49

Maddala GS (1983) Limited Dependent and Qualitative Variables in Econometrics EconometricSociety Monographs Cambridge University Press Cambridge

Maddala GS (1995) ordfSpeciregcation tests in limited dependentvariable modelsordm in Maddala GSPhillips PCB and Srinivasan TN (Eds) Advances in Economics and QuantitativeEconomics Blackwell Cambridge MA pp 1-49

Marsden T (1995) ordfBeyond agriculture regulating the new rural spacesordm Journal of RuralStudies Vol 11 pp 285-96

Marsden T (1998) ordfNew rural territories regulating the differentiated rural spaceordm Journal ofRural Studies Vol 14 pp 107-17

IJSE303

234

interrelated aspects First by introducing a system of quality speciregcations inagriculture and especially the rules on certiregcates of PDOs PGIs andtraditional specialty guaranteed (TSG) the EU attempted to re-regulate qualityaway from its traditional concept to an association with particular places orregions Thus despite the fact that quality of produced currants was regulatedaccording to the physical characteristics of the product in three categories ofquality as A B and C the Greek state submitted an application to the EU andwas granted a PDO certiregcation for currants produced in the oldergeographical zone of quality A production Second in the early 1990s theproduction aid system for dried grapes was gradually replaced by a system ofregxed aid per hectare of harvested specialized area as a response to negotiationsand agreements with the World Trade Organization (WTO)

These developments signaled to producers that in the light of evolutions inthe global markets quality rather than quantity should support incomes Pan-European surveys conregrm the changing consumer needs and especially thegreat value placed to products associated to particular places and geographicregions (Flash Eurobarometer 1996) signifying a shift towards a logic ofquality as opposed to a productivist logic (Allaire and Sylvander 1997) Ilberyet al (2001) argue that this shift back toward local and dedicated productspresents new opportunities for producers still embedded in traditionalproduction methods or seeking to re-embed themselves in such methods

Micro levelBoth the macro and meso environments have shaped the immediate (micro)environment that currant producers face by means of structuring their incomethe resources they own the market they target and their power to negotiateThe price received by producers is made up of the market price of the productplus the per hectare subsidy which for a farmer with the mean per hectareproduction accounts for almost 60 percent of the total price heshe receivesThis per hectare payment is in favor of the small farms or the farms withmedium or low production which are usually located in mountainous and lessfavored non-irrigated areas The price of quality A currants which now bear aPDO certiregcation is consistently higher than that of quality B and C while thedifference in the price of quality B and C currants is not signiregcant Moreoverthe price of organic currants irrespective of the place of production isconsistently higher than that of the conventional product and mostimportantly is not signiregcantly differentiated among quality categories A Bor C

The socio-cultural and economic base of currant cultivation in Greece is bestattributed by the notion of family farming in terms of the goal orientation offarmers and their families the production and reproduction patterns and theirsystem of values norms and beliefs All elements of the micro level

Socio-economicsof niche market

creation

225

environment inform and are being informed by the individual identity ofproducers

The decision-making processThe structures-relations described above undergo a process of comprehensionby individual producers That is all three levels are incorporated into adecision-making tree that depicts the processes of interaction between formaland informal factors A core element characterizing this process is the way inwhich producers perceive these environments Figure 2 shows a decision-making tree under ordfindividual-perceptionordm process of comprehension

Figure 2Decision-makingtree underindividual-perception

IJSE303

226

This process begins as soon as the actor in this case the producer identireges aproblem or an opportunity existing in the environment in which sheheoperates and in our case this is the relocalization of quality A subconsciousprocess is almost immediately activated during which the actor assessesherhis ability to solve the problem or proregt by the available opportunity Thisprocess involves the analysis of all facets of the problemopportunity A fairlyknowledgeable actor will be able to decode the structure-relations underlyingthe problemopportunity shehe is faced with If this is the case the actorrsquosdecision involves taking action in order either to solve the problem or takeadvantage from the opportunity to improve herhis current position In anyother case the actor may decide not to undertake action due to either limitedinformation or bounded comprehension Action therefore involves the processof a consciously designed decision in either direction Knowledge in that senserefers to an individualrsquos inherent capacity to imagine a problem or anopportunity ie to decode its nature This capacity is built ie enhanced andconstrained by conditions such as information education connectivenessinclusiveness values norms and beliefs and the resources owned by theindividual

Data and methodologySampleThe decision process postulated by the social ecology approach presentedabove was tested using a sample of Korinthian currant producers collected inthe framework of a multidisciplinary EU research project A questionnairesurvey with face-to-face interviews was carried out with an objective to contact250 producers in the major currant producing areas of Greece including areasin the quality A zone now a denominated zone and areas in quality B and Czones An initial questionnaire was pilot tested with 20 producers Producerswere sampled from registries were contacted in advance and were interviewedby trained personnel in pre-arranged meetings The survey resulted to 239usable questionnaires From the 239 farmers surveyed 115 are located insidethe class A production zone and 124 outside ie are located in areas producingquality B and C currants Of these 239 farmers 89 had adopted the uprootingscheme 53 within quality A class and 36 outside it Finally 73 farmers haveadopted organic cultivation and 34 of them are located in quality class A and 39outside while of the 73 farmers who have adopted organic cultivation 41 hadalso made use of the uprooting scheme

Through the survey a wide range of information concerning farm and farmhousehold characteristics was collected The collected information was used toproxy some key explanatory variables identireged in the individual farmerrsquosdecision-making process depicted in Figure 2 The major decision to bequantitatively modeled (dependent variable) is the adoption of organicagriculture ie the decision to participate to a policy scheme provided at the

Socio-economicsof niche market

creation

227

macro-level Again at the macro level the provision by the EU and theconsequent adoption of the uprooting scheme by a farmer should be consideredas a major explanatory variable Prior adoption of the uprooting scheme showsthat farmers are familiar with the operation of EU policies and have attempted(successfully or not) to reduce and restructure their production base Prioradoption of policy schemes has been widely used to denote informed farmers orfarmers with a good network of information collection (Saha et al 1994)

At the meso level the statersquos response to localize currant production bysubmitting and successfully being granted a PDO certiregcation for quality Aareas of production is a major explanatory variable encapsulating besidesnational reactions to macro actions of regulation regionallocal environmentalcharacteristics of production Finally at the micro level a number of variablesremacrecting the availability of farm resources and the quality of human capitalmay be used Important resource variables are the size of land and the availablefarm income as a possible source of regnancing investments From the manyavailable human capital characteristics (education training experience etc)we choose education as a proxy of the farmerrsquos ability to identify a ordfproblemordm oran ordfopportunityordm and realize hisher decision by carrying out the requiredoperations Off-farm employment indicates the time resources devoted toagriculture and thus the ability and willingness to adopt new productionstrategies but it also indicates the ability to collect information concerning thelocal and regional labor markets in the other sectors of the economy (Damianosand Skuras 1996)

Statistical modelThe basic dependent variable is a dichotomous variable indicating adoption ornon-adoption of organic cultivation by currant producers Due to thedichotomous nature of the dependent variable a probit statistical model isemployed The deregnitions and basic statistics of the independent (explanatory)variables are shown in Table I

One of the major dependent variables concerns with prior adoption ofthe scheme offered for the uprooting and restructuring of older vineyardsBeing the outcome of a decision to adopt a scheme one may suspect thatthis variable is exogenously determined by a number of other variablesand thus is endogenous to the adoption of the organic cultivation probitmodel For this reason a second probit model was estimated with the priordecision to adopt or not adopt the uprooting scheme as a dependentvariable

An examination of the simultaneous determination of these two probitequations (adoption or non adoption of organic cultivation and of the uprootingscheme) and the estimation of relevant exogeneity tests (Blundell and Smith1994) shows that the decision to uproot is exogenous to the decision to adoptorganic cultivation and thus the two probit models may be estimated

IJSE303

228

separately The decision to adopt the uprooting scheme is a decision concerningwith elements of the macro environment as this scheme was offered by the EUOwing to the interesting results derived from regtting the probit model ofadopting the uprooting scheme we decided to present the results from thismodel alongside with the results from the model concerning adoption oforganic cultivation

At the upper part of Table II the coefregcient estimates of the adoption oforganic cultivation probit model are presented Then in the same Table II thecoefregcient estimates for the decision to adopt the uprooting scheme are shownIn probit models the coefregcient estimates do not accept the same interpretationas the corresponding coefregcients in linear regression models

Thus we estimate the marginal effects which show the effect of increasingone of the independent variables on the probabilities of adopting organiccultivation and of adopting the uproot scheme respectively For dummyindependent variables the marginal effects are analyzed as discrete or relativechanges when the respective dummy takes its two different values 0 and 1respectively (Green 1997) The marginal effects of the independent variables onthe probabilities are presented in Table III for adopters only For non-adoptersthe coefregcient estimates are the same as for adopters but with opposite sign

Separate tests examining the null hypothesis that individual coefregcients arezero can be calculated by analogy with the t-test of the conventional linearregression model A joint test of the null hypothesis that all the parametersassociated with the explanatory variables are equal to zero is a chi-square testbased on the maximised likelihood A goodness-of-regt measure based on thelikelihood-ratio test statistic usually reported as McFaddenrsquos (1979) pseudo-R 2

Variable name Description Mean Std dev

ORGANIC Dependent variable 1 = farmer has adoptedorganic cultivation 0 = otherwise

0305 0462

UPROOT Dependent variable 1 = farmer had adopteduprooting schemes 0 = otherwise

0372 0484

LAND1 Size of currant cultivation before adopting theuprooting scheme in stremma (10stremma = 1ha)

16994 10245

LAND2 Size of currant cultivation before adopting theorganic cultivation scheme (10 stremma = 1 ha)

16238 10515

EDUCAT 0 = Basic education or less 1 = more 0628 0484EMPLOY Dummy variable 0 = major income from

agriculture 1 = otherwise0431 0500

LOCAT Dummy variable 0 = farmer located inside thePDO zone

0519 0501

INCOMEa Agricultural income from all agriculturalenterprises in million Greek drachmas

4170 2372

Note a 1 Euro= 34075 Greek drachmas

Table IDescription and

descriptive statisticsof dependent and

explanatoryvariables

Socio-economicsof niche market

creation

229

measure or rho-square is also computed (Maddala 1983) Besides theendogeneity test referred to above speciregcation test analysis involved a test forheteroskedasticity based on generalized residuals and a test for omittedvariables using predicted values of the dependent variable (Maddala 1995)

ResultsAdoption of organic cultivationAs is shown in Table II the likelihood ratio test is highly signiregcant with ascore of 52935 and the corresponding goodness-of-regt r 2 measure indicates avery satisfactory regt The model correctly predicts almost 77 per cent (184 out of239) of the cases Education agricultural income and the adoption of theuprooting scheme are highly signiregcant Interpreting the marginal effects ofTable III we see that an increase of the total agricultural income by 1 millionGreek drachmas increases the probability that organic farming has beenadopted by 62 percent The probability that organic farming has been adoptedis 14 percent higher for a farmer having higher education or more than forfarmers having only basic education and all other characteristics the same Theprobability that a farmer has adopted organic cultivation is 138 percent higher

Coefregcient estimate Asymptotic t-test

Adoption of organic cultivation (dependent variable ORGANIC)Constant 2 2077 2 6401LAND2 2 0013 2 1243INCOME 0186 3842EDUCAT 0830 4080EMPLOY 2 0102 2 0530LOCAT 0243 1280UPROOT 0838 4220Log-likelihood 2 120614Restricted log-likelihood 2 147081Chi-square (df) 52935(6)McFaddenrsquos r2

0180 of correct predictions 7699

Adoption of the uprooting scheme (dependent variable UPROOT)Constant 2 0387 2 1576LAND1 0304 3523EDUCAT 2 0165 2 0936EMPLOY 2 0378 2 2134LOCAT 2 0426 2 2467Log-likelihood 2 147188Restricted log-likelihood 2 157791Chi-square (df) 21207(5)McFaddenrsquos r2

0067 of correct predictions 7531

Note Indicates signiregcance at the 5 percent level of signiregcance

Table IICoefregcientestimates andmarginal effects ofthe probit models

IJSE303

230

if the farmer has already adopted the uprooting scheme In this model the sizeof the currant plantation prior to adoption of organic cultivation employmentstatus and location are not statistically signiregcant However as we will seethese variables highly inmacruence the decision that a farmer has adopted theuprooting scheme and thus we may argue that exercise an indirect effect onthe decision to adopt organic cultivation

Adoption of uprootingAs is shown in Table II the likelihood ratio test is highly signiregcant with ascore of 21207 and the corresponding goodness-of-regt r 2 measure indicates agood regt The model correctly predicts 7531 percent (180 out of 239) of the cases

Variable name Estimated marginal effects

Adoption of the uprooting scheme (dependent variable UPROOT)LAND1 0011EDUCAT

EDUCAT = 0 2 0064EDUCAT = 1 2 0060EDUCAT change 2 0004EMPLOYEMPLOY = 0 2 0148EMPLOY = 1 2 0128EMPLOY change 2 0020

LOCATLOCAT = 0 2 0168LOCAT = 1 2 0145LOCAT change 2 0023

Adoption of organic cultivation (dependent variable ORGANIC)LAND2 2 0004INCOME 0062EDUCAT

EDUCAT = 0 0178EDUCAT = 1 0318EDUCAT change 2 0140

EMPLOYEMPLOY = 0 2 0035EMPLOY = 1 2 0033EMPLOY change 2 0002

LOCATLOCAT = 0 0075LOCAT = 1 0087LOCAT change 2 0012

UPROOTUPROOT = 0 0196UPROOT = 1 0334UPROOT change 2 0138

Table IIIMarginal effects of

explanatoryvariables

Socio-economicsof niche market

creation

231

From the four variables used in the analysis only education is not statisticallysigniregcant The size of the currant plantation prior to uprooting indicates thatthe higher the size the higher the probability that the farmer had adopted theuprooting scheme Interpreting the marginal effects of Table III for everyadditional hectare of currant plantation (ten stremmata) the probability that theuprooting scheme has been adopted increases by 11 percent The probabilitythat the uprooting scheme has been adopted is higher for full-time farmers thanfor part-time farmers by 2 percent indicating the willingness of full-timefarmers to take advantage of the scheme and restructure their vineyard Theprobability that uprooting has been adopted is higher among farmers locatedinside the class A production zone by 23 percent again indicating the highervalue of restructuring production within the regulated zone of high qualityrather than outside it

It is evident from the analysis so far that the decision to adopt the uprootingscheme provided at the macro-level is highly inmacruenced by elements at themeso-level (location) and elements at the micro-level (size of operationorganisation of time) Consequently the decision to adopt organic cultivation ishighly inmacruenced by prior decisions taken at the macro-level (adoption of theuprooting scheme) and directly or indirectly elements of the meso level withmost important the location the associated PDO certiregcation and elements ofthe micro-level The analysis reveals the interconnected nature of the threeenvironmental levels and their signiregcance in simultaneously inmacruencing eachother Failing to understand and incorporate such interrelated qualitativerelations in the quantitative analysis will lead on to biased and unsatisfactoryresults

ConclusionsThe objective of the present paper is to perform a multi-level quantitative andqualitative analysis of the farmerrsquos decision to adopt organic currantcultivation Social ecology provided the context for this analysis enabling usboth to identify key factors and quantify their importance under the scope ofindividualrsquos perception of the environment Apart form the study of personalsocio-economic characteristics emphasis is placed on the way in which farmersunderstand locality on the one hand and prior participation to policy schemeson the other Analysis of the current policy and market environment indicatesthe existence of two interrelated trends The regrst refers to an ordfopportunitydevelopmentordm nature of policy interventions that seeks to provide and supportmeaningful alternatives to farmers in the peripheral rural areas The secondrefers to a growing marketrsquos contest toward realizing locational comparativeadvantages Quality increasingly related to location supports an outlet towardthe creation of a niche market The aim therefore is to provide evidence ofwhether or not farmers understand organic agriculture as an opportunity todifferentiate their product and enter a niche market

IJSE303

232

Compared with previous regulatory schemes organic cultivation givesfarmers the opportunity to develop a speciregc image for their product based onquality assurance In that sense organic cultivation is a highly ordfimageableordmscheme consisting of a more risky choice with higher however anticipatedbeneregts This is shown by the peculiar fact that education is an importantfactor regarding the adoption of organic cultivation whereas it does not affectadoption of previous policy schemes and in particular of the uprooting schemeThis may be related to the ability of better elaboration of a whole system ofinformation to reduce risk

For producers under the PDO certiregcation ie those in the quality A zone ofcultivation organic agriculture seems to be a follow-up scheme as most of themhad previously adopted the uprooting scheme as well This indicates a strongpolicy orientation a relationship of trust regarding the design and applicationof measures to sustain the distinct market position they already possess andthe beneregts they gain from that position In contrast for the majority ofproducers belonging to the class B and C zones of cultivation adoption oforganic agriculture is not a follow-up scheme Most of the producers in thisclass category have entered organic agriculture without prior participation tothe uprooting scheme For these farmers organic agriculture is the shift back toquality signaled by the EU and WTO attempts to control and suppress theproductivist logic For these producers it is reasonable to assume that theyhave identireged organic cultivation as a niche market offering an opportunity todifferentiate their product improve their market position and bridge the pricedifferential resultant from quality zoning and the consequent PDO certiregcationResults of the quantitative analysis indeed show that belonging to class A ofcultivation is not a statistically signiregcant variable determining the adoption oforganic cultivation and thus the relocalization of quality achieved through thePDO denomination is not the determining factor of a farmerrsquos decision to adoptorganic agriculture as a policy scheme

References

Allaire G and Sylvander B (1997) ordfQualiteAcirc speAcircciregque et systeAacuteme drsquo innovation territorialeordmCahiers drsquoEAcirc conomies et Sociologie Rurales Vol 4 pp 30-59

Bell D and Valentine G (1997) Consuming Geographies We Are Where We Eat RoutledgeLondon

Binder A (1972) ordfA new context for psychology social ecologyordm American Psychologist Vol 27pp 903-8

Binder A Stokols D and Catalano R (1975) ordfSocial ecology an emerging multidisciplineordmJournal of Environmental Education Vol 7 pp 32-43

Blundell R and Smith J (1994) ordfCoherency and estimation in simultaneous models withcensored or qualitative dependent variablesordm Journal of Econometrics Vol 64 pp 355-73

Bromley D (2001) ordfMad cows drugged cows and juggled genesordm Choices 2nd quarter pp 6-9

Clark G Bowler I Cockett A Ilbery B and Shaw A (1997) ordfInstitutions alternative farmingsystems and local reregulationordm Environment and Planning A Vol 29 pp 731-45

Socio-economicsof niche market

creation

233

Damianos D and Skuras D (1996) ordfFarm business and the development of alternative farmenterprises an empirical analysis in Greeceordm Journal of Rural Studies Vol 12 pp 273-83

Fine B (1994) ordfTowards a political economy of foodordm Review of International Political EconomyVol 1 pp 519-45

Flash Eurobarometer (1996) Les Labels de QualiteAcirc Eurobarometer Special Report 93commission of the European Communities Brussels

Gilg A and Battershill M (1998) ordfQuality farm food in Europe a possible alternative to theindustrialised food market and to current agri-environmental policies lessons fromFranceordm Food Policy Vol 23 pp 25-40

Glennie P and Thrift N (1996) ordfConsumption shopping and genderordm in Lowe M andWrigley N (Eds) Retailing Consumption and Capital Longman Group Harlowpp 221-38

Goodman D and Redclift M (1994) ordfConstructing a political economy of foodordm Review ofInternational Political Economy Vol 1 pp 547-52

Goodman D and Watts M (1994) ordfReconregguring the rural or fording the divide capitalistrestructuring and the global agro-food systemordm Environment and Planning D pp 1-49

Green W (1997) Econometric Analysis Prentice-Hall International London

Gronow J (1993) ordfWhat is good tasteordm Social Science Information Vol 32 pp 279-301

Ilbery B and Kneafsey M (1999) ordfNiche markets and regional speciality food products inEurope towards a research agendaordm Environment and Planning A Vol 31 pp 2207-22

Ilbery B Kneafsey M SoEgravederlund A and Dimara E (2001) ordfQuality imagery and marketingproducer perspectives on quality products and services in the lagging rural regions of theEuropean Unionordm Geograregska Annaler Vol 83 pp 27-40

Jackson P and Holbrook B (1995) ordfMultiple meanings shopping and the cultural politics ofidentityordm Environment and Planning A Vol 27 pp 1913-30

Knox PL (1991) ordfThe restless urban landscape economic and socio-cultural change and thetransformation of metropolitan Washington DCordm Annals of the Association of AmericanGeographers Vol 81 pp 181-209

McFadden D (1979) ordfQuantitative methods for analysing travel behaviour of individuals somerecent developmentsordm in Hensher DA and Stopher PR (Eds) Behavioural TravelModelling Croom Helm London pp 279-318

McNaghten P and Urry J (1998) Contested Natures Sage London

McRobbie A (1989) ordfSecond-hand dresses and the role of the rag marketordm in McRobbie A (Ed)Zoot Suits and Second-hand Dresses An Anthology of Fashion and Music MacmillanLondon pp 23-49

Maddala GS (1983) Limited Dependent and Qualitative Variables in Econometrics EconometricSociety Monographs Cambridge University Press Cambridge

Maddala GS (1995) ordfSpeciregcation tests in limited dependentvariable modelsordm in Maddala GSPhillips PCB and Srinivasan TN (Eds) Advances in Economics and QuantitativeEconomics Blackwell Cambridge MA pp 1-49

Marsden T (1995) ordfBeyond agriculture regulating the new rural spacesordm Journal of RuralStudies Vol 11 pp 285-96

Marsden T (1998) ordfNew rural territories regulating the differentiated rural spaceordm Journal ofRural Studies Vol 14 pp 107-17

IJSE303

234

environment inform and are being informed by the individual identity ofproducers

The decision-making processThe structures-relations described above undergo a process of comprehensionby individual producers That is all three levels are incorporated into adecision-making tree that depicts the processes of interaction between formaland informal factors A core element characterizing this process is the way inwhich producers perceive these environments Figure 2 shows a decision-making tree under ordfindividual-perceptionordm process of comprehension

Figure 2Decision-makingtree underindividual-perception

IJSE303

226

This process begins as soon as the actor in this case the producer identireges aproblem or an opportunity existing in the environment in which sheheoperates and in our case this is the relocalization of quality A subconsciousprocess is almost immediately activated during which the actor assessesherhis ability to solve the problem or proregt by the available opportunity Thisprocess involves the analysis of all facets of the problemopportunity A fairlyknowledgeable actor will be able to decode the structure-relations underlyingthe problemopportunity shehe is faced with If this is the case the actorrsquosdecision involves taking action in order either to solve the problem or takeadvantage from the opportunity to improve herhis current position In anyother case the actor may decide not to undertake action due to either limitedinformation or bounded comprehension Action therefore involves the processof a consciously designed decision in either direction Knowledge in that senserefers to an individualrsquos inherent capacity to imagine a problem or anopportunity ie to decode its nature This capacity is built ie enhanced andconstrained by conditions such as information education connectivenessinclusiveness values norms and beliefs and the resources owned by theindividual

Data and methodologySampleThe decision process postulated by the social ecology approach presentedabove was tested using a sample of Korinthian currant producers collected inthe framework of a multidisciplinary EU research project A questionnairesurvey with face-to-face interviews was carried out with an objective to contact250 producers in the major currant producing areas of Greece including areasin the quality A zone now a denominated zone and areas in quality B and Czones An initial questionnaire was pilot tested with 20 producers Producerswere sampled from registries were contacted in advance and were interviewedby trained personnel in pre-arranged meetings The survey resulted to 239usable questionnaires From the 239 farmers surveyed 115 are located insidethe class A production zone and 124 outside ie are located in areas producingquality B and C currants Of these 239 farmers 89 had adopted the uprootingscheme 53 within quality A class and 36 outside it Finally 73 farmers haveadopted organic cultivation and 34 of them are located in quality class A and 39outside while of the 73 farmers who have adopted organic cultivation 41 hadalso made use of the uprooting scheme

Through the survey a wide range of information concerning farm and farmhousehold characteristics was collected The collected information was used toproxy some key explanatory variables identireged in the individual farmerrsquosdecision-making process depicted in Figure 2 The major decision to bequantitatively modeled (dependent variable) is the adoption of organicagriculture ie the decision to participate to a policy scheme provided at the

Socio-economicsof niche market

creation

227

macro-level Again at the macro level the provision by the EU and theconsequent adoption of the uprooting scheme by a farmer should be consideredas a major explanatory variable Prior adoption of the uprooting scheme showsthat farmers are familiar with the operation of EU policies and have attempted(successfully or not) to reduce and restructure their production base Prioradoption of policy schemes has been widely used to denote informed farmers orfarmers with a good network of information collection (Saha et al 1994)

At the meso level the statersquos response to localize currant production bysubmitting and successfully being granted a PDO certiregcation for quality Aareas of production is a major explanatory variable encapsulating besidesnational reactions to macro actions of regulation regionallocal environmentalcharacteristics of production Finally at the micro level a number of variablesremacrecting the availability of farm resources and the quality of human capitalmay be used Important resource variables are the size of land and the availablefarm income as a possible source of regnancing investments From the manyavailable human capital characteristics (education training experience etc)we choose education as a proxy of the farmerrsquos ability to identify a ordfproblemordm oran ordfopportunityordm and realize hisher decision by carrying out the requiredoperations Off-farm employment indicates the time resources devoted toagriculture and thus the ability and willingness to adopt new productionstrategies but it also indicates the ability to collect information concerning thelocal and regional labor markets in the other sectors of the economy (Damianosand Skuras 1996)

Statistical modelThe basic dependent variable is a dichotomous variable indicating adoption ornon-adoption of organic cultivation by currant producers Due to thedichotomous nature of the dependent variable a probit statistical model isemployed The deregnitions and basic statistics of the independent (explanatory)variables are shown in Table I

One of the major dependent variables concerns with prior adoption ofthe scheme offered for the uprooting and restructuring of older vineyardsBeing the outcome of a decision to adopt a scheme one may suspect thatthis variable is exogenously determined by a number of other variablesand thus is endogenous to the adoption of the organic cultivation probitmodel For this reason a second probit model was estimated with the priordecision to adopt or not adopt the uprooting scheme as a dependentvariable

An examination of the simultaneous determination of these two probitequations (adoption or non adoption of organic cultivation and of the uprootingscheme) and the estimation of relevant exogeneity tests (Blundell and Smith1994) shows that the decision to uproot is exogenous to the decision to adoptorganic cultivation and thus the two probit models may be estimated

IJSE303

228

separately The decision to adopt the uprooting scheme is a decision concerningwith elements of the macro environment as this scheme was offered by the EUOwing to the interesting results derived from regtting the probit model ofadopting the uprooting scheme we decided to present the results from thismodel alongside with the results from the model concerning adoption oforganic cultivation

At the upper part of Table II the coefregcient estimates of the adoption oforganic cultivation probit model are presented Then in the same Table II thecoefregcient estimates for the decision to adopt the uprooting scheme are shownIn probit models the coefregcient estimates do not accept the same interpretationas the corresponding coefregcients in linear regression models

Thus we estimate the marginal effects which show the effect of increasingone of the independent variables on the probabilities of adopting organiccultivation and of adopting the uproot scheme respectively For dummyindependent variables the marginal effects are analyzed as discrete or relativechanges when the respective dummy takes its two different values 0 and 1respectively (Green 1997) The marginal effects of the independent variables onthe probabilities are presented in Table III for adopters only For non-adoptersthe coefregcient estimates are the same as for adopters but with opposite sign

Separate tests examining the null hypothesis that individual coefregcients arezero can be calculated by analogy with the t-test of the conventional linearregression model A joint test of the null hypothesis that all the parametersassociated with the explanatory variables are equal to zero is a chi-square testbased on the maximised likelihood A goodness-of-regt measure based on thelikelihood-ratio test statistic usually reported as McFaddenrsquos (1979) pseudo-R 2

Variable name Description Mean Std dev

ORGANIC Dependent variable 1 = farmer has adoptedorganic cultivation 0 = otherwise

0305 0462

UPROOT Dependent variable 1 = farmer had adopteduprooting schemes 0 = otherwise

0372 0484

LAND1 Size of currant cultivation before adopting theuprooting scheme in stremma (10stremma = 1ha)

16994 10245

LAND2 Size of currant cultivation before adopting theorganic cultivation scheme (10 stremma = 1 ha)

16238 10515

EDUCAT 0 = Basic education or less 1 = more 0628 0484EMPLOY Dummy variable 0 = major income from

agriculture 1 = otherwise0431 0500

LOCAT Dummy variable 0 = farmer located inside thePDO zone

0519 0501

INCOMEa Agricultural income from all agriculturalenterprises in million Greek drachmas

4170 2372

Note a 1 Euro= 34075 Greek drachmas

Table IDescription and

descriptive statisticsof dependent and

explanatoryvariables

Socio-economicsof niche market

creation

229

measure or rho-square is also computed (Maddala 1983) Besides theendogeneity test referred to above speciregcation test analysis involved a test forheteroskedasticity based on generalized residuals and a test for omittedvariables using predicted values of the dependent variable (Maddala 1995)

ResultsAdoption of organic cultivationAs is shown in Table II the likelihood ratio test is highly signiregcant with ascore of 52935 and the corresponding goodness-of-regt r 2 measure indicates avery satisfactory regt The model correctly predicts almost 77 per cent (184 out of239) of the cases Education agricultural income and the adoption of theuprooting scheme are highly signiregcant Interpreting the marginal effects ofTable III we see that an increase of the total agricultural income by 1 millionGreek drachmas increases the probability that organic farming has beenadopted by 62 percent The probability that organic farming has been adoptedis 14 percent higher for a farmer having higher education or more than forfarmers having only basic education and all other characteristics the same Theprobability that a farmer has adopted organic cultivation is 138 percent higher

Coefregcient estimate Asymptotic t-test

Adoption of organic cultivation (dependent variable ORGANIC)Constant 2 2077 2 6401LAND2 2 0013 2 1243INCOME 0186 3842EDUCAT 0830 4080EMPLOY 2 0102 2 0530LOCAT 0243 1280UPROOT 0838 4220Log-likelihood 2 120614Restricted log-likelihood 2 147081Chi-square (df) 52935(6)McFaddenrsquos r2

0180 of correct predictions 7699

Adoption of the uprooting scheme (dependent variable UPROOT)Constant 2 0387 2 1576LAND1 0304 3523EDUCAT 2 0165 2 0936EMPLOY 2 0378 2 2134LOCAT 2 0426 2 2467Log-likelihood 2 147188Restricted log-likelihood 2 157791Chi-square (df) 21207(5)McFaddenrsquos r2

0067 of correct predictions 7531

Note Indicates signiregcance at the 5 percent level of signiregcance

Table IICoefregcientestimates andmarginal effects ofthe probit models

IJSE303

230

if the farmer has already adopted the uprooting scheme In this model the sizeof the currant plantation prior to adoption of organic cultivation employmentstatus and location are not statistically signiregcant However as we will seethese variables highly inmacruence the decision that a farmer has adopted theuprooting scheme and thus we may argue that exercise an indirect effect onthe decision to adopt organic cultivation

Adoption of uprootingAs is shown in Table II the likelihood ratio test is highly signiregcant with ascore of 21207 and the corresponding goodness-of-regt r 2 measure indicates agood regt The model correctly predicts 7531 percent (180 out of 239) of the cases

Variable name Estimated marginal effects

Adoption of the uprooting scheme (dependent variable UPROOT)LAND1 0011EDUCAT

EDUCAT = 0 2 0064EDUCAT = 1 2 0060EDUCAT change 2 0004EMPLOYEMPLOY = 0 2 0148EMPLOY = 1 2 0128EMPLOY change 2 0020

LOCATLOCAT = 0 2 0168LOCAT = 1 2 0145LOCAT change 2 0023

Adoption of organic cultivation (dependent variable ORGANIC)LAND2 2 0004INCOME 0062EDUCAT

EDUCAT = 0 0178EDUCAT = 1 0318EDUCAT change 2 0140

EMPLOYEMPLOY = 0 2 0035EMPLOY = 1 2 0033EMPLOY change 2 0002

LOCATLOCAT = 0 0075LOCAT = 1 0087LOCAT change 2 0012

UPROOTUPROOT = 0 0196UPROOT = 1 0334UPROOT change 2 0138

Table IIIMarginal effects of

explanatoryvariables

Socio-economicsof niche market

creation

231

From the four variables used in the analysis only education is not statisticallysigniregcant The size of the currant plantation prior to uprooting indicates thatthe higher the size the higher the probability that the farmer had adopted theuprooting scheme Interpreting the marginal effects of Table III for everyadditional hectare of currant plantation (ten stremmata) the probability that theuprooting scheme has been adopted increases by 11 percent The probabilitythat the uprooting scheme has been adopted is higher for full-time farmers thanfor part-time farmers by 2 percent indicating the willingness of full-timefarmers to take advantage of the scheme and restructure their vineyard Theprobability that uprooting has been adopted is higher among farmers locatedinside the class A production zone by 23 percent again indicating the highervalue of restructuring production within the regulated zone of high qualityrather than outside it

It is evident from the analysis so far that the decision to adopt the uprootingscheme provided at the macro-level is highly inmacruenced by elements at themeso-level (location) and elements at the micro-level (size of operationorganisation of time) Consequently the decision to adopt organic cultivation ishighly inmacruenced by prior decisions taken at the macro-level (adoption of theuprooting scheme) and directly or indirectly elements of the meso level withmost important the location the associated PDO certiregcation and elements ofthe micro-level The analysis reveals the interconnected nature of the threeenvironmental levels and their signiregcance in simultaneously inmacruencing eachother Failing to understand and incorporate such interrelated qualitativerelations in the quantitative analysis will lead on to biased and unsatisfactoryresults

ConclusionsThe objective of the present paper is to perform a multi-level quantitative andqualitative analysis of the farmerrsquos decision to adopt organic currantcultivation Social ecology provided the context for this analysis enabling usboth to identify key factors and quantify their importance under the scope ofindividualrsquos perception of the environment Apart form the study of personalsocio-economic characteristics emphasis is placed on the way in which farmersunderstand locality on the one hand and prior participation to policy schemeson the other Analysis of the current policy and market environment indicatesthe existence of two interrelated trends The regrst refers to an ordfopportunitydevelopmentordm nature of policy interventions that seeks to provide and supportmeaningful alternatives to farmers in the peripheral rural areas The secondrefers to a growing marketrsquos contest toward realizing locational comparativeadvantages Quality increasingly related to location supports an outlet towardthe creation of a niche market The aim therefore is to provide evidence ofwhether or not farmers understand organic agriculture as an opportunity todifferentiate their product and enter a niche market

IJSE303

232

Compared with previous regulatory schemes organic cultivation givesfarmers the opportunity to develop a speciregc image for their product based onquality assurance In that sense organic cultivation is a highly ordfimageableordmscheme consisting of a more risky choice with higher however anticipatedbeneregts This is shown by the peculiar fact that education is an importantfactor regarding the adoption of organic cultivation whereas it does not affectadoption of previous policy schemes and in particular of the uprooting schemeThis may be related to the ability of better elaboration of a whole system ofinformation to reduce risk

For producers under the PDO certiregcation ie those in the quality A zone ofcultivation organic agriculture seems to be a follow-up scheme as most of themhad previously adopted the uprooting scheme as well This indicates a strongpolicy orientation a relationship of trust regarding the design and applicationof measures to sustain the distinct market position they already possess andthe beneregts they gain from that position In contrast for the majority ofproducers belonging to the class B and C zones of cultivation adoption oforganic agriculture is not a follow-up scheme Most of the producers in thisclass category have entered organic agriculture without prior participation tothe uprooting scheme For these farmers organic agriculture is the shift back toquality signaled by the EU and WTO attempts to control and suppress theproductivist logic For these producers it is reasonable to assume that theyhave identireged organic cultivation as a niche market offering an opportunity todifferentiate their product improve their market position and bridge the pricedifferential resultant from quality zoning and the consequent PDO certiregcationResults of the quantitative analysis indeed show that belonging to class A ofcultivation is not a statistically signiregcant variable determining the adoption oforganic cultivation and thus the relocalization of quality achieved through thePDO denomination is not the determining factor of a farmerrsquos decision to adoptorganic agriculture as a policy scheme

References

Allaire G and Sylvander B (1997) ordfQualiteAcirc speAcircciregque et systeAacuteme drsquo innovation territorialeordmCahiers drsquoEAcirc conomies et Sociologie Rurales Vol 4 pp 30-59

Bell D and Valentine G (1997) Consuming Geographies We Are Where We Eat RoutledgeLondon

Binder A (1972) ordfA new context for psychology social ecologyordm American Psychologist Vol 27pp 903-8

Binder A Stokols D and Catalano R (1975) ordfSocial ecology an emerging multidisciplineordmJournal of Environmental Education Vol 7 pp 32-43

Blundell R and Smith J (1994) ordfCoherency and estimation in simultaneous models withcensored or qualitative dependent variablesordm Journal of Econometrics Vol 64 pp 355-73

Bromley D (2001) ordfMad cows drugged cows and juggled genesordm Choices 2nd quarter pp 6-9

Clark G Bowler I Cockett A Ilbery B and Shaw A (1997) ordfInstitutions alternative farmingsystems and local reregulationordm Environment and Planning A Vol 29 pp 731-45

Socio-economicsof niche market

creation

233

Damianos D and Skuras D (1996) ordfFarm business and the development of alternative farmenterprises an empirical analysis in Greeceordm Journal of Rural Studies Vol 12 pp 273-83

Fine B (1994) ordfTowards a political economy of foodordm Review of International Political EconomyVol 1 pp 519-45

Flash Eurobarometer (1996) Les Labels de QualiteAcirc Eurobarometer Special Report 93commission of the European Communities Brussels

Gilg A and Battershill M (1998) ordfQuality farm food in Europe a possible alternative to theindustrialised food market and to current agri-environmental policies lessons fromFranceordm Food Policy Vol 23 pp 25-40

Glennie P and Thrift N (1996) ordfConsumption shopping and genderordm in Lowe M andWrigley N (Eds) Retailing Consumption and Capital Longman Group Harlowpp 221-38

Goodman D and Redclift M (1994) ordfConstructing a political economy of foodordm Review ofInternational Political Economy Vol 1 pp 547-52

Goodman D and Watts M (1994) ordfReconregguring the rural or fording the divide capitalistrestructuring and the global agro-food systemordm Environment and Planning D pp 1-49

Green W (1997) Econometric Analysis Prentice-Hall International London

Gronow J (1993) ordfWhat is good tasteordm Social Science Information Vol 32 pp 279-301

Ilbery B and Kneafsey M (1999) ordfNiche markets and regional speciality food products inEurope towards a research agendaordm Environment and Planning A Vol 31 pp 2207-22

Ilbery B Kneafsey M SoEgravederlund A and Dimara E (2001) ordfQuality imagery and marketingproducer perspectives on quality products and services in the lagging rural regions of theEuropean Unionordm Geograregska Annaler Vol 83 pp 27-40

Jackson P and Holbrook B (1995) ordfMultiple meanings shopping and the cultural politics ofidentityordm Environment and Planning A Vol 27 pp 1913-30

Knox PL (1991) ordfThe restless urban landscape economic and socio-cultural change and thetransformation of metropolitan Washington DCordm Annals of the Association of AmericanGeographers Vol 81 pp 181-209

McFadden D (1979) ordfQuantitative methods for analysing travel behaviour of individuals somerecent developmentsordm in Hensher DA and Stopher PR (Eds) Behavioural TravelModelling Croom Helm London pp 279-318

McNaghten P and Urry J (1998) Contested Natures Sage London

McRobbie A (1989) ordfSecond-hand dresses and the role of the rag marketordm in McRobbie A (Ed)Zoot Suits and Second-hand Dresses An Anthology of Fashion and Music MacmillanLondon pp 23-49

Maddala GS (1983) Limited Dependent and Qualitative Variables in Econometrics EconometricSociety Monographs Cambridge University Press Cambridge

Maddala GS (1995) ordfSpeciregcation tests in limited dependentvariable modelsordm in Maddala GSPhillips PCB and Srinivasan TN (Eds) Advances in Economics and QuantitativeEconomics Blackwell Cambridge MA pp 1-49

Marsden T (1995) ordfBeyond agriculture regulating the new rural spacesordm Journal of RuralStudies Vol 11 pp 285-96

Marsden T (1998) ordfNew rural territories regulating the differentiated rural spaceordm Journal ofRural Studies Vol 14 pp 107-17

IJSE303

234

This process begins as soon as the actor in this case the producer identireges aproblem or an opportunity existing in the environment in which sheheoperates and in our case this is the relocalization of quality A subconsciousprocess is almost immediately activated during which the actor assessesherhis ability to solve the problem or proregt by the available opportunity Thisprocess involves the analysis of all facets of the problemopportunity A fairlyknowledgeable actor will be able to decode the structure-relations underlyingthe problemopportunity shehe is faced with If this is the case the actorrsquosdecision involves taking action in order either to solve the problem or takeadvantage from the opportunity to improve herhis current position In anyother case the actor may decide not to undertake action due to either limitedinformation or bounded comprehension Action therefore involves the processof a consciously designed decision in either direction Knowledge in that senserefers to an individualrsquos inherent capacity to imagine a problem or anopportunity ie to decode its nature This capacity is built ie enhanced andconstrained by conditions such as information education connectivenessinclusiveness values norms and beliefs and the resources owned by theindividual

Data and methodologySampleThe decision process postulated by the social ecology approach presentedabove was tested using a sample of Korinthian currant producers collected inthe framework of a multidisciplinary EU research project A questionnairesurvey with face-to-face interviews was carried out with an objective to contact250 producers in the major currant producing areas of Greece including areasin the quality A zone now a denominated zone and areas in quality B and Czones An initial questionnaire was pilot tested with 20 producers Producerswere sampled from registries were contacted in advance and were interviewedby trained personnel in pre-arranged meetings The survey resulted to 239usable questionnaires From the 239 farmers surveyed 115 are located insidethe class A production zone and 124 outside ie are located in areas producingquality B and C currants Of these 239 farmers 89 had adopted the uprootingscheme 53 within quality A class and 36 outside it Finally 73 farmers haveadopted organic cultivation and 34 of them are located in quality class A and 39outside while of the 73 farmers who have adopted organic cultivation 41 hadalso made use of the uprooting scheme

Through the survey a wide range of information concerning farm and farmhousehold characteristics was collected The collected information was used toproxy some key explanatory variables identireged in the individual farmerrsquosdecision-making process depicted in Figure 2 The major decision to bequantitatively modeled (dependent variable) is the adoption of organicagriculture ie the decision to participate to a policy scheme provided at the

Socio-economicsof niche market

creation

227

macro-level Again at the macro level the provision by the EU and theconsequent adoption of the uprooting scheme by a farmer should be consideredas a major explanatory variable Prior adoption of the uprooting scheme showsthat farmers are familiar with the operation of EU policies and have attempted(successfully or not) to reduce and restructure their production base Prioradoption of policy schemes has been widely used to denote informed farmers orfarmers with a good network of information collection (Saha et al 1994)

At the meso level the statersquos response to localize currant production bysubmitting and successfully being granted a PDO certiregcation for quality Aareas of production is a major explanatory variable encapsulating besidesnational reactions to macro actions of regulation regionallocal environmentalcharacteristics of production Finally at the micro level a number of variablesremacrecting the availability of farm resources and the quality of human capitalmay be used Important resource variables are the size of land and the availablefarm income as a possible source of regnancing investments From the manyavailable human capital characteristics (education training experience etc)we choose education as a proxy of the farmerrsquos ability to identify a ordfproblemordm oran ordfopportunityordm and realize hisher decision by carrying out the requiredoperations Off-farm employment indicates the time resources devoted toagriculture and thus the ability and willingness to adopt new productionstrategies but it also indicates the ability to collect information concerning thelocal and regional labor markets in the other sectors of the economy (Damianosand Skuras 1996)

Statistical modelThe basic dependent variable is a dichotomous variable indicating adoption ornon-adoption of organic cultivation by currant producers Due to thedichotomous nature of the dependent variable a probit statistical model isemployed The deregnitions and basic statistics of the independent (explanatory)variables are shown in Table I

One of the major dependent variables concerns with prior adoption ofthe scheme offered for the uprooting and restructuring of older vineyardsBeing the outcome of a decision to adopt a scheme one may suspect thatthis variable is exogenously determined by a number of other variablesand thus is endogenous to the adoption of the organic cultivation probitmodel For this reason a second probit model was estimated with the priordecision to adopt or not adopt the uprooting scheme as a dependentvariable

An examination of the simultaneous determination of these two probitequations (adoption or non adoption of organic cultivation and of the uprootingscheme) and the estimation of relevant exogeneity tests (Blundell and Smith1994) shows that the decision to uproot is exogenous to the decision to adoptorganic cultivation and thus the two probit models may be estimated

IJSE303

228

separately The decision to adopt the uprooting scheme is a decision concerningwith elements of the macro environment as this scheme was offered by the EUOwing to the interesting results derived from regtting the probit model ofadopting the uprooting scheme we decided to present the results from thismodel alongside with the results from the model concerning adoption oforganic cultivation

At the upper part of Table II the coefregcient estimates of the adoption oforganic cultivation probit model are presented Then in the same Table II thecoefregcient estimates for the decision to adopt the uprooting scheme are shownIn probit models the coefregcient estimates do not accept the same interpretationas the corresponding coefregcients in linear regression models

Thus we estimate the marginal effects which show the effect of increasingone of the independent variables on the probabilities of adopting organiccultivation and of adopting the uproot scheme respectively For dummyindependent variables the marginal effects are analyzed as discrete or relativechanges when the respective dummy takes its two different values 0 and 1respectively (Green 1997) The marginal effects of the independent variables onthe probabilities are presented in Table III for adopters only For non-adoptersthe coefregcient estimates are the same as for adopters but with opposite sign

Separate tests examining the null hypothesis that individual coefregcients arezero can be calculated by analogy with the t-test of the conventional linearregression model A joint test of the null hypothesis that all the parametersassociated with the explanatory variables are equal to zero is a chi-square testbased on the maximised likelihood A goodness-of-regt measure based on thelikelihood-ratio test statistic usually reported as McFaddenrsquos (1979) pseudo-R 2

Variable name Description Mean Std dev

ORGANIC Dependent variable 1 = farmer has adoptedorganic cultivation 0 = otherwise

0305 0462

UPROOT Dependent variable 1 = farmer had adopteduprooting schemes 0 = otherwise

0372 0484

LAND1 Size of currant cultivation before adopting theuprooting scheme in stremma (10stremma = 1ha)

16994 10245

LAND2 Size of currant cultivation before adopting theorganic cultivation scheme (10 stremma = 1 ha)

16238 10515

EDUCAT 0 = Basic education or less 1 = more 0628 0484EMPLOY Dummy variable 0 = major income from

agriculture 1 = otherwise0431 0500

LOCAT Dummy variable 0 = farmer located inside thePDO zone

0519 0501

INCOMEa Agricultural income from all agriculturalenterprises in million Greek drachmas

4170 2372

Note a 1 Euro= 34075 Greek drachmas

Table IDescription and

descriptive statisticsof dependent and

explanatoryvariables

Socio-economicsof niche market

creation

229

measure or rho-square is also computed (Maddala 1983) Besides theendogeneity test referred to above speciregcation test analysis involved a test forheteroskedasticity based on generalized residuals and a test for omittedvariables using predicted values of the dependent variable (Maddala 1995)

ResultsAdoption of organic cultivationAs is shown in Table II the likelihood ratio test is highly signiregcant with ascore of 52935 and the corresponding goodness-of-regt r 2 measure indicates avery satisfactory regt The model correctly predicts almost 77 per cent (184 out of239) of the cases Education agricultural income and the adoption of theuprooting scheme are highly signiregcant Interpreting the marginal effects ofTable III we see that an increase of the total agricultural income by 1 millionGreek drachmas increases the probability that organic farming has beenadopted by 62 percent The probability that organic farming has been adoptedis 14 percent higher for a farmer having higher education or more than forfarmers having only basic education and all other characteristics the same Theprobability that a farmer has adopted organic cultivation is 138 percent higher

Coefregcient estimate Asymptotic t-test

Adoption of organic cultivation (dependent variable ORGANIC)Constant 2 2077 2 6401LAND2 2 0013 2 1243INCOME 0186 3842EDUCAT 0830 4080EMPLOY 2 0102 2 0530LOCAT 0243 1280UPROOT 0838 4220Log-likelihood 2 120614Restricted log-likelihood 2 147081Chi-square (df) 52935(6)McFaddenrsquos r2

0180 of correct predictions 7699

Adoption of the uprooting scheme (dependent variable UPROOT)Constant 2 0387 2 1576LAND1 0304 3523EDUCAT 2 0165 2 0936EMPLOY 2 0378 2 2134LOCAT 2 0426 2 2467Log-likelihood 2 147188Restricted log-likelihood 2 157791Chi-square (df) 21207(5)McFaddenrsquos r2

0067 of correct predictions 7531

Note Indicates signiregcance at the 5 percent level of signiregcance

Table IICoefregcientestimates andmarginal effects ofthe probit models

IJSE303

230

if the farmer has already adopted the uprooting scheme In this model the sizeof the currant plantation prior to adoption of organic cultivation employmentstatus and location are not statistically signiregcant However as we will seethese variables highly inmacruence the decision that a farmer has adopted theuprooting scheme and thus we may argue that exercise an indirect effect onthe decision to adopt organic cultivation

Adoption of uprootingAs is shown in Table II the likelihood ratio test is highly signiregcant with ascore of 21207 and the corresponding goodness-of-regt r 2 measure indicates agood regt The model correctly predicts 7531 percent (180 out of 239) of the cases

Variable name Estimated marginal effects

Adoption of the uprooting scheme (dependent variable UPROOT)LAND1 0011EDUCAT

EDUCAT = 0 2 0064EDUCAT = 1 2 0060EDUCAT change 2 0004EMPLOYEMPLOY = 0 2 0148EMPLOY = 1 2 0128EMPLOY change 2 0020

LOCATLOCAT = 0 2 0168LOCAT = 1 2 0145LOCAT change 2 0023

Adoption of organic cultivation (dependent variable ORGANIC)LAND2 2 0004INCOME 0062EDUCAT

EDUCAT = 0 0178EDUCAT = 1 0318EDUCAT change 2 0140

EMPLOYEMPLOY = 0 2 0035EMPLOY = 1 2 0033EMPLOY change 2 0002

LOCATLOCAT = 0 0075LOCAT = 1 0087LOCAT change 2 0012

UPROOTUPROOT = 0 0196UPROOT = 1 0334UPROOT change 2 0138

Table IIIMarginal effects of

explanatoryvariables

Socio-economicsof niche market

creation

231

From the four variables used in the analysis only education is not statisticallysigniregcant The size of the currant plantation prior to uprooting indicates thatthe higher the size the higher the probability that the farmer had adopted theuprooting scheme Interpreting the marginal effects of Table III for everyadditional hectare of currant plantation (ten stremmata) the probability that theuprooting scheme has been adopted increases by 11 percent The probabilitythat the uprooting scheme has been adopted is higher for full-time farmers thanfor part-time farmers by 2 percent indicating the willingness of full-timefarmers to take advantage of the scheme and restructure their vineyard Theprobability that uprooting has been adopted is higher among farmers locatedinside the class A production zone by 23 percent again indicating the highervalue of restructuring production within the regulated zone of high qualityrather than outside it

It is evident from the analysis so far that the decision to adopt the uprootingscheme provided at the macro-level is highly inmacruenced by elements at themeso-level (location) and elements at the micro-level (size of operationorganisation of time) Consequently the decision to adopt organic cultivation ishighly inmacruenced by prior decisions taken at the macro-level (adoption of theuprooting scheme) and directly or indirectly elements of the meso level withmost important the location the associated PDO certiregcation and elements ofthe micro-level The analysis reveals the interconnected nature of the threeenvironmental levels and their signiregcance in simultaneously inmacruencing eachother Failing to understand and incorporate such interrelated qualitativerelations in the quantitative analysis will lead on to biased and unsatisfactoryresults

ConclusionsThe objective of the present paper is to perform a multi-level quantitative andqualitative analysis of the farmerrsquos decision to adopt organic currantcultivation Social ecology provided the context for this analysis enabling usboth to identify key factors and quantify their importance under the scope ofindividualrsquos perception of the environment Apart form the study of personalsocio-economic characteristics emphasis is placed on the way in which farmersunderstand locality on the one hand and prior participation to policy schemeson the other Analysis of the current policy and market environment indicatesthe existence of two interrelated trends The regrst refers to an ordfopportunitydevelopmentordm nature of policy interventions that seeks to provide and supportmeaningful alternatives to farmers in the peripheral rural areas The secondrefers to a growing marketrsquos contest toward realizing locational comparativeadvantages Quality increasingly related to location supports an outlet towardthe creation of a niche market The aim therefore is to provide evidence ofwhether or not farmers understand organic agriculture as an opportunity todifferentiate their product and enter a niche market

IJSE303

232

Compared with previous regulatory schemes organic cultivation givesfarmers the opportunity to develop a speciregc image for their product based onquality assurance In that sense organic cultivation is a highly ordfimageableordmscheme consisting of a more risky choice with higher however anticipatedbeneregts This is shown by the peculiar fact that education is an importantfactor regarding the adoption of organic cultivation whereas it does not affectadoption of previous policy schemes and in particular of the uprooting schemeThis may be related to the ability of better elaboration of a whole system ofinformation to reduce risk

For producers under the PDO certiregcation ie those in the quality A zone ofcultivation organic agriculture seems to be a follow-up scheme as most of themhad previously adopted the uprooting scheme as well This indicates a strongpolicy orientation a relationship of trust regarding the design and applicationof measures to sustain the distinct market position they already possess andthe beneregts they gain from that position In contrast for the majority ofproducers belonging to the class B and C zones of cultivation adoption oforganic agriculture is not a follow-up scheme Most of the producers in thisclass category have entered organic agriculture without prior participation tothe uprooting scheme For these farmers organic agriculture is the shift back toquality signaled by the EU and WTO attempts to control and suppress theproductivist logic For these producers it is reasonable to assume that theyhave identireged organic cultivation as a niche market offering an opportunity todifferentiate their product improve their market position and bridge the pricedifferential resultant from quality zoning and the consequent PDO certiregcationResults of the quantitative analysis indeed show that belonging to class A ofcultivation is not a statistically signiregcant variable determining the adoption oforganic cultivation and thus the relocalization of quality achieved through thePDO denomination is not the determining factor of a farmerrsquos decision to adoptorganic agriculture as a policy scheme

References

Allaire G and Sylvander B (1997) ordfQualiteAcirc speAcircciregque et systeAacuteme drsquo innovation territorialeordmCahiers drsquoEAcirc conomies et Sociologie Rurales Vol 4 pp 30-59

Bell D and Valentine G (1997) Consuming Geographies We Are Where We Eat RoutledgeLondon

Binder A (1972) ordfA new context for psychology social ecologyordm American Psychologist Vol 27pp 903-8

Binder A Stokols D and Catalano R (1975) ordfSocial ecology an emerging multidisciplineordmJournal of Environmental Education Vol 7 pp 32-43

Blundell R and Smith J (1994) ordfCoherency and estimation in simultaneous models withcensored or qualitative dependent variablesordm Journal of Econometrics Vol 64 pp 355-73

Bromley D (2001) ordfMad cows drugged cows and juggled genesordm Choices 2nd quarter pp 6-9

Clark G Bowler I Cockett A Ilbery B and Shaw A (1997) ordfInstitutions alternative farmingsystems and local reregulationordm Environment and Planning A Vol 29 pp 731-45

Socio-economicsof niche market

creation

233

Damianos D and Skuras D (1996) ordfFarm business and the development of alternative farmenterprises an empirical analysis in Greeceordm Journal of Rural Studies Vol 12 pp 273-83

Fine B (1994) ordfTowards a political economy of foodordm Review of International Political EconomyVol 1 pp 519-45

Flash Eurobarometer (1996) Les Labels de QualiteAcirc Eurobarometer Special Report 93commission of the European Communities Brussels

Gilg A and Battershill M (1998) ordfQuality farm food in Europe a possible alternative to theindustrialised food market and to current agri-environmental policies lessons fromFranceordm Food Policy Vol 23 pp 25-40

Glennie P and Thrift N (1996) ordfConsumption shopping and genderordm in Lowe M andWrigley N (Eds) Retailing Consumption and Capital Longman Group Harlowpp 221-38

Goodman D and Redclift M (1994) ordfConstructing a political economy of foodordm Review ofInternational Political Economy Vol 1 pp 547-52

Goodman D and Watts M (1994) ordfReconregguring the rural or fording the divide capitalistrestructuring and the global agro-food systemordm Environment and Planning D pp 1-49

Green W (1997) Econometric Analysis Prentice-Hall International London

Gronow J (1993) ordfWhat is good tasteordm Social Science Information Vol 32 pp 279-301

Ilbery B and Kneafsey M (1999) ordfNiche markets and regional speciality food products inEurope towards a research agendaordm Environment and Planning A Vol 31 pp 2207-22

Ilbery B Kneafsey M SoEgravederlund A and Dimara E (2001) ordfQuality imagery and marketingproducer perspectives on quality products and services in the lagging rural regions of theEuropean Unionordm Geograregska Annaler Vol 83 pp 27-40

Jackson P and Holbrook B (1995) ordfMultiple meanings shopping and the cultural politics ofidentityordm Environment and Planning A Vol 27 pp 1913-30

Knox PL (1991) ordfThe restless urban landscape economic and socio-cultural change and thetransformation of metropolitan Washington DCordm Annals of the Association of AmericanGeographers Vol 81 pp 181-209

McFadden D (1979) ordfQuantitative methods for analysing travel behaviour of individuals somerecent developmentsordm in Hensher DA and Stopher PR (Eds) Behavioural TravelModelling Croom Helm London pp 279-318

McNaghten P and Urry J (1998) Contested Natures Sage London

McRobbie A (1989) ordfSecond-hand dresses and the role of the rag marketordm in McRobbie A (Ed)Zoot Suits and Second-hand Dresses An Anthology of Fashion and Music MacmillanLondon pp 23-49

Maddala GS (1983) Limited Dependent and Qualitative Variables in Econometrics EconometricSociety Monographs Cambridge University Press Cambridge

Maddala GS (1995) ordfSpeciregcation tests in limited dependentvariable modelsordm in Maddala GSPhillips PCB and Srinivasan TN (Eds) Advances in Economics and QuantitativeEconomics Blackwell Cambridge MA pp 1-49

Marsden T (1995) ordfBeyond agriculture regulating the new rural spacesordm Journal of RuralStudies Vol 11 pp 285-96

Marsden T (1998) ordfNew rural territories regulating the differentiated rural spaceordm Journal ofRural Studies Vol 14 pp 107-17

IJSE303

234

macro-level Again at the macro level the provision by the EU and theconsequent adoption of the uprooting scheme by a farmer should be consideredas a major explanatory variable Prior adoption of the uprooting scheme showsthat farmers are familiar with the operation of EU policies and have attempted(successfully or not) to reduce and restructure their production base Prioradoption of policy schemes has been widely used to denote informed farmers orfarmers with a good network of information collection (Saha et al 1994)

At the meso level the statersquos response to localize currant production bysubmitting and successfully being granted a PDO certiregcation for quality Aareas of production is a major explanatory variable encapsulating besidesnational reactions to macro actions of regulation regionallocal environmentalcharacteristics of production Finally at the micro level a number of variablesremacrecting the availability of farm resources and the quality of human capitalmay be used Important resource variables are the size of land and the availablefarm income as a possible source of regnancing investments From the manyavailable human capital characteristics (education training experience etc)we choose education as a proxy of the farmerrsquos ability to identify a ordfproblemordm oran ordfopportunityordm and realize hisher decision by carrying out the requiredoperations Off-farm employment indicates the time resources devoted toagriculture and thus the ability and willingness to adopt new productionstrategies but it also indicates the ability to collect information concerning thelocal and regional labor markets in the other sectors of the economy (Damianosand Skuras 1996)

Statistical modelThe basic dependent variable is a dichotomous variable indicating adoption ornon-adoption of organic cultivation by currant producers Due to thedichotomous nature of the dependent variable a probit statistical model isemployed The deregnitions and basic statistics of the independent (explanatory)variables are shown in Table I

One of the major dependent variables concerns with prior adoption ofthe scheme offered for the uprooting and restructuring of older vineyardsBeing the outcome of a decision to adopt a scheme one may suspect thatthis variable is exogenously determined by a number of other variablesand thus is endogenous to the adoption of the organic cultivation probitmodel For this reason a second probit model was estimated with the priordecision to adopt or not adopt the uprooting scheme as a dependentvariable

An examination of the simultaneous determination of these two probitequations (adoption or non adoption of organic cultivation and of the uprootingscheme) and the estimation of relevant exogeneity tests (Blundell and Smith1994) shows that the decision to uproot is exogenous to the decision to adoptorganic cultivation and thus the two probit models may be estimated

IJSE303

228

separately The decision to adopt the uprooting scheme is a decision concerningwith elements of the macro environment as this scheme was offered by the EUOwing to the interesting results derived from regtting the probit model ofadopting the uprooting scheme we decided to present the results from thismodel alongside with the results from the model concerning adoption oforganic cultivation

At the upper part of Table II the coefregcient estimates of the adoption oforganic cultivation probit model are presented Then in the same Table II thecoefregcient estimates for the decision to adopt the uprooting scheme are shownIn probit models the coefregcient estimates do not accept the same interpretationas the corresponding coefregcients in linear regression models

Thus we estimate the marginal effects which show the effect of increasingone of the independent variables on the probabilities of adopting organiccultivation and of adopting the uproot scheme respectively For dummyindependent variables the marginal effects are analyzed as discrete or relativechanges when the respective dummy takes its two different values 0 and 1respectively (Green 1997) The marginal effects of the independent variables onthe probabilities are presented in Table III for adopters only For non-adoptersthe coefregcient estimates are the same as for adopters but with opposite sign

Separate tests examining the null hypothesis that individual coefregcients arezero can be calculated by analogy with the t-test of the conventional linearregression model A joint test of the null hypothesis that all the parametersassociated with the explanatory variables are equal to zero is a chi-square testbased on the maximised likelihood A goodness-of-regt measure based on thelikelihood-ratio test statistic usually reported as McFaddenrsquos (1979) pseudo-R 2

Variable name Description Mean Std dev

ORGANIC Dependent variable 1 = farmer has adoptedorganic cultivation 0 = otherwise

0305 0462

UPROOT Dependent variable 1 = farmer had adopteduprooting schemes 0 = otherwise

0372 0484

LAND1 Size of currant cultivation before adopting theuprooting scheme in stremma (10stremma = 1ha)

16994 10245

LAND2 Size of currant cultivation before adopting theorganic cultivation scheme (10 stremma = 1 ha)

16238 10515

EDUCAT 0 = Basic education or less 1 = more 0628 0484EMPLOY Dummy variable 0 = major income from

agriculture 1 = otherwise0431 0500

LOCAT Dummy variable 0 = farmer located inside thePDO zone

0519 0501

INCOMEa Agricultural income from all agriculturalenterprises in million Greek drachmas

4170 2372

Note a 1 Euro= 34075 Greek drachmas

Table IDescription and

descriptive statisticsof dependent and

explanatoryvariables

Socio-economicsof niche market

creation

229

measure or rho-square is also computed (Maddala 1983) Besides theendogeneity test referred to above speciregcation test analysis involved a test forheteroskedasticity based on generalized residuals and a test for omittedvariables using predicted values of the dependent variable (Maddala 1995)

ResultsAdoption of organic cultivationAs is shown in Table II the likelihood ratio test is highly signiregcant with ascore of 52935 and the corresponding goodness-of-regt r 2 measure indicates avery satisfactory regt The model correctly predicts almost 77 per cent (184 out of239) of the cases Education agricultural income and the adoption of theuprooting scheme are highly signiregcant Interpreting the marginal effects ofTable III we see that an increase of the total agricultural income by 1 millionGreek drachmas increases the probability that organic farming has beenadopted by 62 percent The probability that organic farming has been adoptedis 14 percent higher for a farmer having higher education or more than forfarmers having only basic education and all other characteristics the same Theprobability that a farmer has adopted organic cultivation is 138 percent higher

Coefregcient estimate Asymptotic t-test

Adoption of organic cultivation (dependent variable ORGANIC)Constant 2 2077 2 6401LAND2 2 0013 2 1243INCOME 0186 3842EDUCAT 0830 4080EMPLOY 2 0102 2 0530LOCAT 0243 1280UPROOT 0838 4220Log-likelihood 2 120614Restricted log-likelihood 2 147081Chi-square (df) 52935(6)McFaddenrsquos r2

0180 of correct predictions 7699

Adoption of the uprooting scheme (dependent variable UPROOT)Constant 2 0387 2 1576LAND1 0304 3523EDUCAT 2 0165 2 0936EMPLOY 2 0378 2 2134LOCAT 2 0426 2 2467Log-likelihood 2 147188Restricted log-likelihood 2 157791Chi-square (df) 21207(5)McFaddenrsquos r2

0067 of correct predictions 7531

Note Indicates signiregcance at the 5 percent level of signiregcance

Table IICoefregcientestimates andmarginal effects ofthe probit models

IJSE303

230

if the farmer has already adopted the uprooting scheme In this model the sizeof the currant plantation prior to adoption of organic cultivation employmentstatus and location are not statistically signiregcant However as we will seethese variables highly inmacruence the decision that a farmer has adopted theuprooting scheme and thus we may argue that exercise an indirect effect onthe decision to adopt organic cultivation

Adoption of uprootingAs is shown in Table II the likelihood ratio test is highly signiregcant with ascore of 21207 and the corresponding goodness-of-regt r 2 measure indicates agood regt The model correctly predicts 7531 percent (180 out of 239) of the cases

Variable name Estimated marginal effects

Adoption of the uprooting scheme (dependent variable UPROOT)LAND1 0011EDUCAT

EDUCAT = 0 2 0064EDUCAT = 1 2 0060EDUCAT change 2 0004EMPLOYEMPLOY = 0 2 0148EMPLOY = 1 2 0128EMPLOY change 2 0020

LOCATLOCAT = 0 2 0168LOCAT = 1 2 0145LOCAT change 2 0023

Adoption of organic cultivation (dependent variable ORGANIC)LAND2 2 0004INCOME 0062EDUCAT

EDUCAT = 0 0178EDUCAT = 1 0318EDUCAT change 2 0140

EMPLOYEMPLOY = 0 2 0035EMPLOY = 1 2 0033EMPLOY change 2 0002

LOCATLOCAT = 0 0075LOCAT = 1 0087LOCAT change 2 0012

UPROOTUPROOT = 0 0196UPROOT = 1 0334UPROOT change 2 0138

Table IIIMarginal effects of

explanatoryvariables

Socio-economicsof niche market

creation

231

From the four variables used in the analysis only education is not statisticallysigniregcant The size of the currant plantation prior to uprooting indicates thatthe higher the size the higher the probability that the farmer had adopted theuprooting scheme Interpreting the marginal effects of Table III for everyadditional hectare of currant plantation (ten stremmata) the probability that theuprooting scheme has been adopted increases by 11 percent The probabilitythat the uprooting scheme has been adopted is higher for full-time farmers thanfor part-time farmers by 2 percent indicating the willingness of full-timefarmers to take advantage of the scheme and restructure their vineyard Theprobability that uprooting has been adopted is higher among farmers locatedinside the class A production zone by 23 percent again indicating the highervalue of restructuring production within the regulated zone of high qualityrather than outside it

It is evident from the analysis so far that the decision to adopt the uprootingscheme provided at the macro-level is highly inmacruenced by elements at themeso-level (location) and elements at the micro-level (size of operationorganisation of time) Consequently the decision to adopt organic cultivation ishighly inmacruenced by prior decisions taken at the macro-level (adoption of theuprooting scheme) and directly or indirectly elements of the meso level withmost important the location the associated PDO certiregcation and elements ofthe micro-level The analysis reveals the interconnected nature of the threeenvironmental levels and their signiregcance in simultaneously inmacruencing eachother Failing to understand and incorporate such interrelated qualitativerelations in the quantitative analysis will lead on to biased and unsatisfactoryresults

ConclusionsThe objective of the present paper is to perform a multi-level quantitative andqualitative analysis of the farmerrsquos decision to adopt organic currantcultivation Social ecology provided the context for this analysis enabling usboth to identify key factors and quantify their importance under the scope ofindividualrsquos perception of the environment Apart form the study of personalsocio-economic characteristics emphasis is placed on the way in which farmersunderstand locality on the one hand and prior participation to policy schemeson the other Analysis of the current policy and market environment indicatesthe existence of two interrelated trends The regrst refers to an ordfopportunitydevelopmentordm nature of policy interventions that seeks to provide and supportmeaningful alternatives to farmers in the peripheral rural areas The secondrefers to a growing marketrsquos contest toward realizing locational comparativeadvantages Quality increasingly related to location supports an outlet towardthe creation of a niche market The aim therefore is to provide evidence ofwhether or not farmers understand organic agriculture as an opportunity todifferentiate their product and enter a niche market

IJSE303

232

Compared with previous regulatory schemes organic cultivation givesfarmers the opportunity to develop a speciregc image for their product based onquality assurance In that sense organic cultivation is a highly ordfimageableordmscheme consisting of a more risky choice with higher however anticipatedbeneregts This is shown by the peculiar fact that education is an importantfactor regarding the adoption of organic cultivation whereas it does not affectadoption of previous policy schemes and in particular of the uprooting schemeThis may be related to the ability of better elaboration of a whole system ofinformation to reduce risk

For producers under the PDO certiregcation ie those in the quality A zone ofcultivation organic agriculture seems to be a follow-up scheme as most of themhad previously adopted the uprooting scheme as well This indicates a strongpolicy orientation a relationship of trust regarding the design and applicationof measures to sustain the distinct market position they already possess andthe beneregts they gain from that position In contrast for the majority ofproducers belonging to the class B and C zones of cultivation adoption oforganic agriculture is not a follow-up scheme Most of the producers in thisclass category have entered organic agriculture without prior participation tothe uprooting scheme For these farmers organic agriculture is the shift back toquality signaled by the EU and WTO attempts to control and suppress theproductivist logic For these producers it is reasonable to assume that theyhave identireged organic cultivation as a niche market offering an opportunity todifferentiate their product improve their market position and bridge the pricedifferential resultant from quality zoning and the consequent PDO certiregcationResults of the quantitative analysis indeed show that belonging to class A ofcultivation is not a statistically signiregcant variable determining the adoption oforganic cultivation and thus the relocalization of quality achieved through thePDO denomination is not the determining factor of a farmerrsquos decision to adoptorganic agriculture as a policy scheme

References

Allaire G and Sylvander B (1997) ordfQualiteAcirc speAcircciregque et systeAacuteme drsquo innovation territorialeordmCahiers drsquoEAcirc conomies et Sociologie Rurales Vol 4 pp 30-59

Bell D and Valentine G (1997) Consuming Geographies We Are Where We Eat RoutledgeLondon

Binder A (1972) ordfA new context for psychology social ecologyordm American Psychologist Vol 27pp 903-8

Binder A Stokols D and Catalano R (1975) ordfSocial ecology an emerging multidisciplineordmJournal of Environmental Education Vol 7 pp 32-43

Blundell R and Smith J (1994) ordfCoherency and estimation in simultaneous models withcensored or qualitative dependent variablesordm Journal of Econometrics Vol 64 pp 355-73

Bromley D (2001) ordfMad cows drugged cows and juggled genesordm Choices 2nd quarter pp 6-9

Clark G Bowler I Cockett A Ilbery B and Shaw A (1997) ordfInstitutions alternative farmingsystems and local reregulationordm Environment and Planning A Vol 29 pp 731-45

Socio-economicsof niche market

creation

233

Damianos D and Skuras D (1996) ordfFarm business and the development of alternative farmenterprises an empirical analysis in Greeceordm Journal of Rural Studies Vol 12 pp 273-83

Fine B (1994) ordfTowards a political economy of foodordm Review of International Political EconomyVol 1 pp 519-45

Flash Eurobarometer (1996) Les Labels de QualiteAcirc Eurobarometer Special Report 93commission of the European Communities Brussels

Gilg A and Battershill M (1998) ordfQuality farm food in Europe a possible alternative to theindustrialised food market and to current agri-environmental policies lessons fromFranceordm Food Policy Vol 23 pp 25-40

Glennie P and Thrift N (1996) ordfConsumption shopping and genderordm in Lowe M andWrigley N (Eds) Retailing Consumption and Capital Longman Group Harlowpp 221-38

Goodman D and Redclift M (1994) ordfConstructing a political economy of foodordm Review ofInternational Political Economy Vol 1 pp 547-52

Goodman D and Watts M (1994) ordfReconregguring the rural or fording the divide capitalistrestructuring and the global agro-food systemordm Environment and Planning D pp 1-49

Green W (1997) Econometric Analysis Prentice-Hall International London

Gronow J (1993) ordfWhat is good tasteordm Social Science Information Vol 32 pp 279-301

Ilbery B and Kneafsey M (1999) ordfNiche markets and regional speciality food products inEurope towards a research agendaordm Environment and Planning A Vol 31 pp 2207-22

Ilbery B Kneafsey M SoEgravederlund A and Dimara E (2001) ordfQuality imagery and marketingproducer perspectives on quality products and services in the lagging rural regions of theEuropean Unionordm Geograregska Annaler Vol 83 pp 27-40

Jackson P and Holbrook B (1995) ordfMultiple meanings shopping and the cultural politics ofidentityordm Environment and Planning A Vol 27 pp 1913-30

Knox PL (1991) ordfThe restless urban landscape economic and socio-cultural change and thetransformation of metropolitan Washington DCordm Annals of the Association of AmericanGeographers Vol 81 pp 181-209

McFadden D (1979) ordfQuantitative methods for analysing travel behaviour of individuals somerecent developmentsordm in Hensher DA and Stopher PR (Eds) Behavioural TravelModelling Croom Helm London pp 279-318

McNaghten P and Urry J (1998) Contested Natures Sage London

McRobbie A (1989) ordfSecond-hand dresses and the role of the rag marketordm in McRobbie A (Ed)Zoot Suits and Second-hand Dresses An Anthology of Fashion and Music MacmillanLondon pp 23-49

Maddala GS (1983) Limited Dependent and Qualitative Variables in Econometrics EconometricSociety Monographs Cambridge University Press Cambridge

Maddala GS (1995) ordfSpeciregcation tests in limited dependentvariable modelsordm in Maddala GSPhillips PCB and Srinivasan TN (Eds) Advances in Economics and QuantitativeEconomics Blackwell Cambridge MA pp 1-49

Marsden T (1995) ordfBeyond agriculture regulating the new rural spacesordm Journal of RuralStudies Vol 11 pp 285-96

Marsden T (1998) ordfNew rural territories regulating the differentiated rural spaceordm Journal ofRural Studies Vol 14 pp 107-17

IJSE303

234

separately The decision to adopt the uprooting scheme is a decision concerningwith elements of the macro environment as this scheme was offered by the EUOwing to the interesting results derived from regtting the probit model ofadopting the uprooting scheme we decided to present the results from thismodel alongside with the results from the model concerning adoption oforganic cultivation

At the upper part of Table II the coefregcient estimates of the adoption oforganic cultivation probit model are presented Then in the same Table II thecoefregcient estimates for the decision to adopt the uprooting scheme are shownIn probit models the coefregcient estimates do not accept the same interpretationas the corresponding coefregcients in linear regression models

Thus we estimate the marginal effects which show the effect of increasingone of the independent variables on the probabilities of adopting organiccultivation and of adopting the uproot scheme respectively For dummyindependent variables the marginal effects are analyzed as discrete or relativechanges when the respective dummy takes its two different values 0 and 1respectively (Green 1997) The marginal effects of the independent variables onthe probabilities are presented in Table III for adopters only For non-adoptersthe coefregcient estimates are the same as for adopters but with opposite sign

Separate tests examining the null hypothesis that individual coefregcients arezero can be calculated by analogy with the t-test of the conventional linearregression model A joint test of the null hypothesis that all the parametersassociated with the explanatory variables are equal to zero is a chi-square testbased on the maximised likelihood A goodness-of-regt measure based on thelikelihood-ratio test statistic usually reported as McFaddenrsquos (1979) pseudo-R 2

Variable name Description Mean Std dev

ORGANIC Dependent variable 1 = farmer has adoptedorganic cultivation 0 = otherwise

0305 0462

UPROOT Dependent variable 1 = farmer had adopteduprooting schemes 0 = otherwise

0372 0484

LAND1 Size of currant cultivation before adopting theuprooting scheme in stremma (10stremma = 1ha)

16994 10245

LAND2 Size of currant cultivation before adopting theorganic cultivation scheme (10 stremma = 1 ha)

16238 10515

EDUCAT 0 = Basic education or less 1 = more 0628 0484EMPLOY Dummy variable 0 = major income from

agriculture 1 = otherwise0431 0500

LOCAT Dummy variable 0 = farmer located inside thePDO zone

0519 0501

INCOMEa Agricultural income from all agriculturalenterprises in million Greek drachmas

4170 2372

Note a 1 Euro= 34075 Greek drachmas

Table IDescription and

descriptive statisticsof dependent and

explanatoryvariables

Socio-economicsof niche market

creation

229

measure or rho-square is also computed (Maddala 1983) Besides theendogeneity test referred to above speciregcation test analysis involved a test forheteroskedasticity based on generalized residuals and a test for omittedvariables using predicted values of the dependent variable (Maddala 1995)

ResultsAdoption of organic cultivationAs is shown in Table II the likelihood ratio test is highly signiregcant with ascore of 52935 and the corresponding goodness-of-regt r 2 measure indicates avery satisfactory regt The model correctly predicts almost 77 per cent (184 out of239) of the cases Education agricultural income and the adoption of theuprooting scheme are highly signiregcant Interpreting the marginal effects ofTable III we see that an increase of the total agricultural income by 1 millionGreek drachmas increases the probability that organic farming has beenadopted by 62 percent The probability that organic farming has been adoptedis 14 percent higher for a farmer having higher education or more than forfarmers having only basic education and all other characteristics the same Theprobability that a farmer has adopted organic cultivation is 138 percent higher

Coefregcient estimate Asymptotic t-test

Adoption of organic cultivation (dependent variable ORGANIC)Constant 2 2077 2 6401LAND2 2 0013 2 1243INCOME 0186 3842EDUCAT 0830 4080EMPLOY 2 0102 2 0530LOCAT 0243 1280UPROOT 0838 4220Log-likelihood 2 120614Restricted log-likelihood 2 147081Chi-square (df) 52935(6)McFaddenrsquos r2

0180 of correct predictions 7699

Adoption of the uprooting scheme (dependent variable UPROOT)Constant 2 0387 2 1576LAND1 0304 3523EDUCAT 2 0165 2 0936EMPLOY 2 0378 2 2134LOCAT 2 0426 2 2467Log-likelihood 2 147188Restricted log-likelihood 2 157791Chi-square (df) 21207(5)McFaddenrsquos r2

0067 of correct predictions 7531

Note Indicates signiregcance at the 5 percent level of signiregcance

Table IICoefregcientestimates andmarginal effects ofthe probit models

IJSE303

230

if the farmer has already adopted the uprooting scheme In this model the sizeof the currant plantation prior to adoption of organic cultivation employmentstatus and location are not statistically signiregcant However as we will seethese variables highly inmacruence the decision that a farmer has adopted theuprooting scheme and thus we may argue that exercise an indirect effect onthe decision to adopt organic cultivation

Adoption of uprootingAs is shown in Table II the likelihood ratio test is highly signiregcant with ascore of 21207 and the corresponding goodness-of-regt r 2 measure indicates agood regt The model correctly predicts 7531 percent (180 out of 239) of the cases

Variable name Estimated marginal effects

Adoption of the uprooting scheme (dependent variable UPROOT)LAND1 0011EDUCAT

EDUCAT = 0 2 0064EDUCAT = 1 2 0060EDUCAT change 2 0004EMPLOYEMPLOY = 0 2 0148EMPLOY = 1 2 0128EMPLOY change 2 0020

LOCATLOCAT = 0 2 0168LOCAT = 1 2 0145LOCAT change 2 0023

Adoption of organic cultivation (dependent variable ORGANIC)LAND2 2 0004INCOME 0062EDUCAT

EDUCAT = 0 0178EDUCAT = 1 0318EDUCAT change 2 0140

EMPLOYEMPLOY = 0 2 0035EMPLOY = 1 2 0033EMPLOY change 2 0002

LOCATLOCAT = 0 0075LOCAT = 1 0087LOCAT change 2 0012

UPROOTUPROOT = 0 0196UPROOT = 1 0334UPROOT change 2 0138

Table IIIMarginal effects of

explanatoryvariables

Socio-economicsof niche market

creation

231

From the four variables used in the analysis only education is not statisticallysigniregcant The size of the currant plantation prior to uprooting indicates thatthe higher the size the higher the probability that the farmer had adopted theuprooting scheme Interpreting the marginal effects of Table III for everyadditional hectare of currant plantation (ten stremmata) the probability that theuprooting scheme has been adopted increases by 11 percent The probabilitythat the uprooting scheme has been adopted is higher for full-time farmers thanfor part-time farmers by 2 percent indicating the willingness of full-timefarmers to take advantage of the scheme and restructure their vineyard Theprobability that uprooting has been adopted is higher among farmers locatedinside the class A production zone by 23 percent again indicating the highervalue of restructuring production within the regulated zone of high qualityrather than outside it

It is evident from the analysis so far that the decision to adopt the uprootingscheme provided at the macro-level is highly inmacruenced by elements at themeso-level (location) and elements at the micro-level (size of operationorganisation of time) Consequently the decision to adopt organic cultivation ishighly inmacruenced by prior decisions taken at the macro-level (adoption of theuprooting scheme) and directly or indirectly elements of the meso level withmost important the location the associated PDO certiregcation and elements ofthe micro-level The analysis reveals the interconnected nature of the threeenvironmental levels and their signiregcance in simultaneously inmacruencing eachother Failing to understand and incorporate such interrelated qualitativerelations in the quantitative analysis will lead on to biased and unsatisfactoryresults

ConclusionsThe objective of the present paper is to perform a multi-level quantitative andqualitative analysis of the farmerrsquos decision to adopt organic currantcultivation Social ecology provided the context for this analysis enabling usboth to identify key factors and quantify their importance under the scope ofindividualrsquos perception of the environment Apart form the study of personalsocio-economic characteristics emphasis is placed on the way in which farmersunderstand locality on the one hand and prior participation to policy schemeson the other Analysis of the current policy and market environment indicatesthe existence of two interrelated trends The regrst refers to an ordfopportunitydevelopmentordm nature of policy interventions that seeks to provide and supportmeaningful alternatives to farmers in the peripheral rural areas The secondrefers to a growing marketrsquos contest toward realizing locational comparativeadvantages Quality increasingly related to location supports an outlet towardthe creation of a niche market The aim therefore is to provide evidence ofwhether or not farmers understand organic agriculture as an opportunity todifferentiate their product and enter a niche market

IJSE303

232

Compared with previous regulatory schemes organic cultivation givesfarmers the opportunity to develop a speciregc image for their product based onquality assurance In that sense organic cultivation is a highly ordfimageableordmscheme consisting of a more risky choice with higher however anticipatedbeneregts This is shown by the peculiar fact that education is an importantfactor regarding the adoption of organic cultivation whereas it does not affectadoption of previous policy schemes and in particular of the uprooting schemeThis may be related to the ability of better elaboration of a whole system ofinformation to reduce risk

For producers under the PDO certiregcation ie those in the quality A zone ofcultivation organic agriculture seems to be a follow-up scheme as most of themhad previously adopted the uprooting scheme as well This indicates a strongpolicy orientation a relationship of trust regarding the design and applicationof measures to sustain the distinct market position they already possess andthe beneregts they gain from that position In contrast for the majority ofproducers belonging to the class B and C zones of cultivation adoption oforganic agriculture is not a follow-up scheme Most of the producers in thisclass category have entered organic agriculture without prior participation tothe uprooting scheme For these farmers organic agriculture is the shift back toquality signaled by the EU and WTO attempts to control and suppress theproductivist logic For these producers it is reasonable to assume that theyhave identireged organic cultivation as a niche market offering an opportunity todifferentiate their product improve their market position and bridge the pricedifferential resultant from quality zoning and the consequent PDO certiregcationResults of the quantitative analysis indeed show that belonging to class A ofcultivation is not a statistically signiregcant variable determining the adoption oforganic cultivation and thus the relocalization of quality achieved through thePDO denomination is not the determining factor of a farmerrsquos decision to adoptorganic agriculture as a policy scheme

References

Allaire G and Sylvander B (1997) ordfQualiteAcirc speAcircciregque et systeAacuteme drsquo innovation territorialeordmCahiers drsquoEAcirc conomies et Sociologie Rurales Vol 4 pp 30-59

Bell D and Valentine G (1997) Consuming Geographies We Are Where We Eat RoutledgeLondon

Binder A (1972) ordfA new context for psychology social ecologyordm American Psychologist Vol 27pp 903-8

Binder A Stokols D and Catalano R (1975) ordfSocial ecology an emerging multidisciplineordmJournal of Environmental Education Vol 7 pp 32-43

Blundell R and Smith J (1994) ordfCoherency and estimation in simultaneous models withcensored or qualitative dependent variablesordm Journal of Econometrics Vol 64 pp 355-73

Bromley D (2001) ordfMad cows drugged cows and juggled genesordm Choices 2nd quarter pp 6-9

Clark G Bowler I Cockett A Ilbery B and Shaw A (1997) ordfInstitutions alternative farmingsystems and local reregulationordm Environment and Planning A Vol 29 pp 731-45

Socio-economicsof niche market

creation

233

Damianos D and Skuras D (1996) ordfFarm business and the development of alternative farmenterprises an empirical analysis in Greeceordm Journal of Rural Studies Vol 12 pp 273-83

Fine B (1994) ordfTowards a political economy of foodordm Review of International Political EconomyVol 1 pp 519-45

Flash Eurobarometer (1996) Les Labels de QualiteAcirc Eurobarometer Special Report 93commission of the European Communities Brussels

Gilg A and Battershill M (1998) ordfQuality farm food in Europe a possible alternative to theindustrialised food market and to current agri-environmental policies lessons fromFranceordm Food Policy Vol 23 pp 25-40

Glennie P and Thrift N (1996) ordfConsumption shopping and genderordm in Lowe M andWrigley N (Eds) Retailing Consumption and Capital Longman Group Harlowpp 221-38

Goodman D and Redclift M (1994) ordfConstructing a political economy of foodordm Review ofInternational Political Economy Vol 1 pp 547-52

Goodman D and Watts M (1994) ordfReconregguring the rural or fording the divide capitalistrestructuring and the global agro-food systemordm Environment and Planning D pp 1-49

Green W (1997) Econometric Analysis Prentice-Hall International London

Gronow J (1993) ordfWhat is good tasteordm Social Science Information Vol 32 pp 279-301

Ilbery B and Kneafsey M (1999) ordfNiche markets and regional speciality food products inEurope towards a research agendaordm Environment and Planning A Vol 31 pp 2207-22

Ilbery B Kneafsey M SoEgravederlund A and Dimara E (2001) ordfQuality imagery and marketingproducer perspectives on quality products and services in the lagging rural regions of theEuropean Unionordm Geograregska Annaler Vol 83 pp 27-40

Jackson P and Holbrook B (1995) ordfMultiple meanings shopping and the cultural politics ofidentityordm Environment and Planning A Vol 27 pp 1913-30

Knox PL (1991) ordfThe restless urban landscape economic and socio-cultural change and thetransformation of metropolitan Washington DCordm Annals of the Association of AmericanGeographers Vol 81 pp 181-209

McFadden D (1979) ordfQuantitative methods for analysing travel behaviour of individuals somerecent developmentsordm in Hensher DA and Stopher PR (Eds) Behavioural TravelModelling Croom Helm London pp 279-318

McNaghten P and Urry J (1998) Contested Natures Sage London

McRobbie A (1989) ordfSecond-hand dresses and the role of the rag marketordm in McRobbie A (Ed)Zoot Suits and Second-hand Dresses An Anthology of Fashion and Music MacmillanLondon pp 23-49

Maddala GS (1983) Limited Dependent and Qualitative Variables in Econometrics EconometricSociety Monographs Cambridge University Press Cambridge

Maddala GS (1995) ordfSpeciregcation tests in limited dependentvariable modelsordm in Maddala GSPhillips PCB and Srinivasan TN (Eds) Advances in Economics and QuantitativeEconomics Blackwell Cambridge MA pp 1-49

Marsden T (1995) ordfBeyond agriculture regulating the new rural spacesordm Journal of RuralStudies Vol 11 pp 285-96

Marsden T (1998) ordfNew rural territories regulating the differentiated rural spaceordm Journal ofRural Studies Vol 14 pp 107-17

IJSE303

234

measure or rho-square is also computed (Maddala 1983) Besides theendogeneity test referred to above speciregcation test analysis involved a test forheteroskedasticity based on generalized residuals and a test for omittedvariables using predicted values of the dependent variable (Maddala 1995)

ResultsAdoption of organic cultivationAs is shown in Table II the likelihood ratio test is highly signiregcant with ascore of 52935 and the corresponding goodness-of-regt r 2 measure indicates avery satisfactory regt The model correctly predicts almost 77 per cent (184 out of239) of the cases Education agricultural income and the adoption of theuprooting scheme are highly signiregcant Interpreting the marginal effects ofTable III we see that an increase of the total agricultural income by 1 millionGreek drachmas increases the probability that organic farming has beenadopted by 62 percent The probability that organic farming has been adoptedis 14 percent higher for a farmer having higher education or more than forfarmers having only basic education and all other characteristics the same Theprobability that a farmer has adopted organic cultivation is 138 percent higher

Coefregcient estimate Asymptotic t-test

Adoption of organic cultivation (dependent variable ORGANIC)Constant 2 2077 2 6401LAND2 2 0013 2 1243INCOME 0186 3842EDUCAT 0830 4080EMPLOY 2 0102 2 0530LOCAT 0243 1280UPROOT 0838 4220Log-likelihood 2 120614Restricted log-likelihood 2 147081Chi-square (df) 52935(6)McFaddenrsquos r2

0180 of correct predictions 7699

Adoption of the uprooting scheme (dependent variable UPROOT)Constant 2 0387 2 1576LAND1 0304 3523EDUCAT 2 0165 2 0936EMPLOY 2 0378 2 2134LOCAT 2 0426 2 2467Log-likelihood 2 147188Restricted log-likelihood 2 157791Chi-square (df) 21207(5)McFaddenrsquos r2

0067 of correct predictions 7531

Note Indicates signiregcance at the 5 percent level of signiregcance

Table IICoefregcientestimates andmarginal effects ofthe probit models

IJSE303

230

if the farmer has already adopted the uprooting scheme In this model the sizeof the currant plantation prior to adoption of organic cultivation employmentstatus and location are not statistically signiregcant However as we will seethese variables highly inmacruence the decision that a farmer has adopted theuprooting scheme and thus we may argue that exercise an indirect effect onthe decision to adopt organic cultivation

Adoption of uprootingAs is shown in Table II the likelihood ratio test is highly signiregcant with ascore of 21207 and the corresponding goodness-of-regt r 2 measure indicates agood regt The model correctly predicts 7531 percent (180 out of 239) of the cases

Variable name Estimated marginal effects

Adoption of the uprooting scheme (dependent variable UPROOT)LAND1 0011EDUCAT

EDUCAT = 0 2 0064EDUCAT = 1 2 0060EDUCAT change 2 0004EMPLOYEMPLOY = 0 2 0148EMPLOY = 1 2 0128EMPLOY change 2 0020

LOCATLOCAT = 0 2 0168LOCAT = 1 2 0145LOCAT change 2 0023

Adoption of organic cultivation (dependent variable ORGANIC)LAND2 2 0004INCOME 0062EDUCAT

EDUCAT = 0 0178EDUCAT = 1 0318EDUCAT change 2 0140

EMPLOYEMPLOY = 0 2 0035EMPLOY = 1 2 0033EMPLOY change 2 0002

LOCATLOCAT = 0 0075LOCAT = 1 0087LOCAT change 2 0012

UPROOTUPROOT = 0 0196UPROOT = 1 0334UPROOT change 2 0138

Table IIIMarginal effects of

explanatoryvariables

Socio-economicsof niche market

creation

231

From the four variables used in the analysis only education is not statisticallysigniregcant The size of the currant plantation prior to uprooting indicates thatthe higher the size the higher the probability that the farmer had adopted theuprooting scheme Interpreting the marginal effects of Table III for everyadditional hectare of currant plantation (ten stremmata) the probability that theuprooting scheme has been adopted increases by 11 percent The probabilitythat the uprooting scheme has been adopted is higher for full-time farmers thanfor part-time farmers by 2 percent indicating the willingness of full-timefarmers to take advantage of the scheme and restructure their vineyard Theprobability that uprooting has been adopted is higher among farmers locatedinside the class A production zone by 23 percent again indicating the highervalue of restructuring production within the regulated zone of high qualityrather than outside it

It is evident from the analysis so far that the decision to adopt the uprootingscheme provided at the macro-level is highly inmacruenced by elements at themeso-level (location) and elements at the micro-level (size of operationorganisation of time) Consequently the decision to adopt organic cultivation ishighly inmacruenced by prior decisions taken at the macro-level (adoption of theuprooting scheme) and directly or indirectly elements of the meso level withmost important the location the associated PDO certiregcation and elements ofthe micro-level The analysis reveals the interconnected nature of the threeenvironmental levels and their signiregcance in simultaneously inmacruencing eachother Failing to understand and incorporate such interrelated qualitativerelations in the quantitative analysis will lead on to biased and unsatisfactoryresults

ConclusionsThe objective of the present paper is to perform a multi-level quantitative andqualitative analysis of the farmerrsquos decision to adopt organic currantcultivation Social ecology provided the context for this analysis enabling usboth to identify key factors and quantify their importance under the scope ofindividualrsquos perception of the environment Apart form the study of personalsocio-economic characteristics emphasis is placed on the way in which farmersunderstand locality on the one hand and prior participation to policy schemeson the other Analysis of the current policy and market environment indicatesthe existence of two interrelated trends The regrst refers to an ordfopportunitydevelopmentordm nature of policy interventions that seeks to provide and supportmeaningful alternatives to farmers in the peripheral rural areas The secondrefers to a growing marketrsquos contest toward realizing locational comparativeadvantages Quality increasingly related to location supports an outlet towardthe creation of a niche market The aim therefore is to provide evidence ofwhether or not farmers understand organic agriculture as an opportunity todifferentiate their product and enter a niche market

IJSE303

232

Compared with previous regulatory schemes organic cultivation givesfarmers the opportunity to develop a speciregc image for their product based onquality assurance In that sense organic cultivation is a highly ordfimageableordmscheme consisting of a more risky choice with higher however anticipatedbeneregts This is shown by the peculiar fact that education is an importantfactor regarding the adoption of organic cultivation whereas it does not affectadoption of previous policy schemes and in particular of the uprooting schemeThis may be related to the ability of better elaboration of a whole system ofinformation to reduce risk

For producers under the PDO certiregcation ie those in the quality A zone ofcultivation organic agriculture seems to be a follow-up scheme as most of themhad previously adopted the uprooting scheme as well This indicates a strongpolicy orientation a relationship of trust regarding the design and applicationof measures to sustain the distinct market position they already possess andthe beneregts they gain from that position In contrast for the majority ofproducers belonging to the class B and C zones of cultivation adoption oforganic agriculture is not a follow-up scheme Most of the producers in thisclass category have entered organic agriculture without prior participation tothe uprooting scheme For these farmers organic agriculture is the shift back toquality signaled by the EU and WTO attempts to control and suppress theproductivist logic For these producers it is reasonable to assume that theyhave identireged organic cultivation as a niche market offering an opportunity todifferentiate their product improve their market position and bridge the pricedifferential resultant from quality zoning and the consequent PDO certiregcationResults of the quantitative analysis indeed show that belonging to class A ofcultivation is not a statistically signiregcant variable determining the adoption oforganic cultivation and thus the relocalization of quality achieved through thePDO denomination is not the determining factor of a farmerrsquos decision to adoptorganic agriculture as a policy scheme

References

Allaire G and Sylvander B (1997) ordfQualiteAcirc speAcircciregque et systeAacuteme drsquo innovation territorialeordmCahiers drsquoEAcirc conomies et Sociologie Rurales Vol 4 pp 30-59

Bell D and Valentine G (1997) Consuming Geographies We Are Where We Eat RoutledgeLondon

Binder A (1972) ordfA new context for psychology social ecologyordm American Psychologist Vol 27pp 903-8

Binder A Stokols D and Catalano R (1975) ordfSocial ecology an emerging multidisciplineordmJournal of Environmental Education Vol 7 pp 32-43

Blundell R and Smith J (1994) ordfCoherency and estimation in simultaneous models withcensored or qualitative dependent variablesordm Journal of Econometrics Vol 64 pp 355-73

Bromley D (2001) ordfMad cows drugged cows and juggled genesordm Choices 2nd quarter pp 6-9

Clark G Bowler I Cockett A Ilbery B and Shaw A (1997) ordfInstitutions alternative farmingsystems and local reregulationordm Environment and Planning A Vol 29 pp 731-45

Socio-economicsof niche market

creation

233

Damianos D and Skuras D (1996) ordfFarm business and the development of alternative farmenterprises an empirical analysis in Greeceordm Journal of Rural Studies Vol 12 pp 273-83

Fine B (1994) ordfTowards a political economy of foodordm Review of International Political EconomyVol 1 pp 519-45

Flash Eurobarometer (1996) Les Labels de QualiteAcirc Eurobarometer Special Report 93commission of the European Communities Brussels

Gilg A and Battershill M (1998) ordfQuality farm food in Europe a possible alternative to theindustrialised food market and to current agri-environmental policies lessons fromFranceordm Food Policy Vol 23 pp 25-40

Glennie P and Thrift N (1996) ordfConsumption shopping and genderordm in Lowe M andWrigley N (Eds) Retailing Consumption and Capital Longman Group Harlowpp 221-38

Goodman D and Redclift M (1994) ordfConstructing a political economy of foodordm Review ofInternational Political Economy Vol 1 pp 547-52

Goodman D and Watts M (1994) ordfReconregguring the rural or fording the divide capitalistrestructuring and the global agro-food systemordm Environment and Planning D pp 1-49

Green W (1997) Econometric Analysis Prentice-Hall International London

Gronow J (1993) ordfWhat is good tasteordm Social Science Information Vol 32 pp 279-301

Ilbery B and Kneafsey M (1999) ordfNiche markets and regional speciality food products inEurope towards a research agendaordm Environment and Planning A Vol 31 pp 2207-22

Ilbery B Kneafsey M SoEgravederlund A and Dimara E (2001) ordfQuality imagery and marketingproducer perspectives on quality products and services in the lagging rural regions of theEuropean Unionordm Geograregska Annaler Vol 83 pp 27-40

Jackson P and Holbrook B (1995) ordfMultiple meanings shopping and the cultural politics ofidentityordm Environment and Planning A Vol 27 pp 1913-30

Knox PL (1991) ordfThe restless urban landscape economic and socio-cultural change and thetransformation of metropolitan Washington DCordm Annals of the Association of AmericanGeographers Vol 81 pp 181-209

McFadden D (1979) ordfQuantitative methods for analysing travel behaviour of individuals somerecent developmentsordm in Hensher DA and Stopher PR (Eds) Behavioural TravelModelling Croom Helm London pp 279-318

McNaghten P and Urry J (1998) Contested Natures Sage London

McRobbie A (1989) ordfSecond-hand dresses and the role of the rag marketordm in McRobbie A (Ed)Zoot Suits and Second-hand Dresses An Anthology of Fashion and Music MacmillanLondon pp 23-49

Maddala GS (1983) Limited Dependent and Qualitative Variables in Econometrics EconometricSociety Monographs Cambridge University Press Cambridge

Maddala GS (1995) ordfSpeciregcation tests in limited dependentvariable modelsordm in Maddala GSPhillips PCB and Srinivasan TN (Eds) Advances in Economics and QuantitativeEconomics Blackwell Cambridge MA pp 1-49

Marsden T (1995) ordfBeyond agriculture regulating the new rural spacesordm Journal of RuralStudies Vol 11 pp 285-96

Marsden T (1998) ordfNew rural territories regulating the differentiated rural spaceordm Journal ofRural Studies Vol 14 pp 107-17

IJSE303

234

if the farmer has already adopted the uprooting scheme In this model the sizeof the currant plantation prior to adoption of organic cultivation employmentstatus and location are not statistically signiregcant However as we will seethese variables highly inmacruence the decision that a farmer has adopted theuprooting scheme and thus we may argue that exercise an indirect effect onthe decision to adopt organic cultivation

Adoption of uprootingAs is shown in Table II the likelihood ratio test is highly signiregcant with ascore of 21207 and the corresponding goodness-of-regt r 2 measure indicates agood regt The model correctly predicts 7531 percent (180 out of 239) of the cases

Variable name Estimated marginal effects

Adoption of the uprooting scheme (dependent variable UPROOT)LAND1 0011EDUCAT

EDUCAT = 0 2 0064EDUCAT = 1 2 0060EDUCAT change 2 0004EMPLOYEMPLOY = 0 2 0148EMPLOY = 1 2 0128EMPLOY change 2 0020

LOCATLOCAT = 0 2 0168LOCAT = 1 2 0145LOCAT change 2 0023

Adoption of organic cultivation (dependent variable ORGANIC)LAND2 2 0004INCOME 0062EDUCAT

EDUCAT = 0 0178EDUCAT = 1 0318EDUCAT change 2 0140

EMPLOYEMPLOY = 0 2 0035EMPLOY = 1 2 0033EMPLOY change 2 0002

LOCATLOCAT = 0 0075LOCAT = 1 0087LOCAT change 2 0012

UPROOTUPROOT = 0 0196UPROOT = 1 0334UPROOT change 2 0138

Table IIIMarginal effects of

explanatoryvariables

Socio-economicsof niche market

creation

231

From the four variables used in the analysis only education is not statisticallysigniregcant The size of the currant plantation prior to uprooting indicates thatthe higher the size the higher the probability that the farmer had adopted theuprooting scheme Interpreting the marginal effects of Table III for everyadditional hectare of currant plantation (ten stremmata) the probability that theuprooting scheme has been adopted increases by 11 percent The probabilitythat the uprooting scheme has been adopted is higher for full-time farmers thanfor part-time farmers by 2 percent indicating the willingness of full-timefarmers to take advantage of the scheme and restructure their vineyard Theprobability that uprooting has been adopted is higher among farmers locatedinside the class A production zone by 23 percent again indicating the highervalue of restructuring production within the regulated zone of high qualityrather than outside it

It is evident from the analysis so far that the decision to adopt the uprootingscheme provided at the macro-level is highly inmacruenced by elements at themeso-level (location) and elements at the micro-level (size of operationorganisation of time) Consequently the decision to adopt organic cultivation ishighly inmacruenced by prior decisions taken at the macro-level (adoption of theuprooting scheme) and directly or indirectly elements of the meso level withmost important the location the associated PDO certiregcation and elements ofthe micro-level The analysis reveals the interconnected nature of the threeenvironmental levels and their signiregcance in simultaneously inmacruencing eachother Failing to understand and incorporate such interrelated qualitativerelations in the quantitative analysis will lead on to biased and unsatisfactoryresults

ConclusionsThe objective of the present paper is to perform a multi-level quantitative andqualitative analysis of the farmerrsquos decision to adopt organic currantcultivation Social ecology provided the context for this analysis enabling usboth to identify key factors and quantify their importance under the scope ofindividualrsquos perception of the environment Apart form the study of personalsocio-economic characteristics emphasis is placed on the way in which farmersunderstand locality on the one hand and prior participation to policy schemeson the other Analysis of the current policy and market environment indicatesthe existence of two interrelated trends The regrst refers to an ordfopportunitydevelopmentordm nature of policy interventions that seeks to provide and supportmeaningful alternatives to farmers in the peripheral rural areas The secondrefers to a growing marketrsquos contest toward realizing locational comparativeadvantages Quality increasingly related to location supports an outlet towardthe creation of a niche market The aim therefore is to provide evidence ofwhether or not farmers understand organic agriculture as an opportunity todifferentiate their product and enter a niche market

IJSE303

232

Compared with previous regulatory schemes organic cultivation givesfarmers the opportunity to develop a speciregc image for their product based onquality assurance In that sense organic cultivation is a highly ordfimageableordmscheme consisting of a more risky choice with higher however anticipatedbeneregts This is shown by the peculiar fact that education is an importantfactor regarding the adoption of organic cultivation whereas it does not affectadoption of previous policy schemes and in particular of the uprooting schemeThis may be related to the ability of better elaboration of a whole system ofinformation to reduce risk

For producers under the PDO certiregcation ie those in the quality A zone ofcultivation organic agriculture seems to be a follow-up scheme as most of themhad previously adopted the uprooting scheme as well This indicates a strongpolicy orientation a relationship of trust regarding the design and applicationof measures to sustain the distinct market position they already possess andthe beneregts they gain from that position In contrast for the majority ofproducers belonging to the class B and C zones of cultivation adoption oforganic agriculture is not a follow-up scheme Most of the producers in thisclass category have entered organic agriculture without prior participation tothe uprooting scheme For these farmers organic agriculture is the shift back toquality signaled by the EU and WTO attempts to control and suppress theproductivist logic For these producers it is reasonable to assume that theyhave identireged organic cultivation as a niche market offering an opportunity todifferentiate their product improve their market position and bridge the pricedifferential resultant from quality zoning and the consequent PDO certiregcationResults of the quantitative analysis indeed show that belonging to class A ofcultivation is not a statistically signiregcant variable determining the adoption oforganic cultivation and thus the relocalization of quality achieved through thePDO denomination is not the determining factor of a farmerrsquos decision to adoptorganic agriculture as a policy scheme

References

Allaire G and Sylvander B (1997) ordfQualiteAcirc speAcircciregque et systeAacuteme drsquo innovation territorialeordmCahiers drsquoEAcirc conomies et Sociologie Rurales Vol 4 pp 30-59

Bell D and Valentine G (1997) Consuming Geographies We Are Where We Eat RoutledgeLondon

Binder A (1972) ordfA new context for psychology social ecologyordm American Psychologist Vol 27pp 903-8

Binder A Stokols D and Catalano R (1975) ordfSocial ecology an emerging multidisciplineordmJournal of Environmental Education Vol 7 pp 32-43

Blundell R and Smith J (1994) ordfCoherency and estimation in simultaneous models withcensored or qualitative dependent variablesordm Journal of Econometrics Vol 64 pp 355-73

Bromley D (2001) ordfMad cows drugged cows and juggled genesordm Choices 2nd quarter pp 6-9

Clark G Bowler I Cockett A Ilbery B and Shaw A (1997) ordfInstitutions alternative farmingsystems and local reregulationordm Environment and Planning A Vol 29 pp 731-45

Socio-economicsof niche market

creation

233

Damianos D and Skuras D (1996) ordfFarm business and the development of alternative farmenterprises an empirical analysis in Greeceordm Journal of Rural Studies Vol 12 pp 273-83

Fine B (1994) ordfTowards a political economy of foodordm Review of International Political EconomyVol 1 pp 519-45

Flash Eurobarometer (1996) Les Labels de QualiteAcirc Eurobarometer Special Report 93commission of the European Communities Brussels

Gilg A and Battershill M (1998) ordfQuality farm food in Europe a possible alternative to theindustrialised food market and to current agri-environmental policies lessons fromFranceordm Food Policy Vol 23 pp 25-40

Glennie P and Thrift N (1996) ordfConsumption shopping and genderordm in Lowe M andWrigley N (Eds) Retailing Consumption and Capital Longman Group Harlowpp 221-38

Goodman D and Redclift M (1994) ordfConstructing a political economy of foodordm Review ofInternational Political Economy Vol 1 pp 547-52

Goodman D and Watts M (1994) ordfReconregguring the rural or fording the divide capitalistrestructuring and the global agro-food systemordm Environment and Planning D pp 1-49

Green W (1997) Econometric Analysis Prentice-Hall International London

Gronow J (1993) ordfWhat is good tasteordm Social Science Information Vol 32 pp 279-301

Ilbery B and Kneafsey M (1999) ordfNiche markets and regional speciality food products inEurope towards a research agendaordm Environment and Planning A Vol 31 pp 2207-22

Ilbery B Kneafsey M SoEgravederlund A and Dimara E (2001) ordfQuality imagery and marketingproducer perspectives on quality products and services in the lagging rural regions of theEuropean Unionordm Geograregska Annaler Vol 83 pp 27-40

Jackson P and Holbrook B (1995) ordfMultiple meanings shopping and the cultural politics ofidentityordm Environment and Planning A Vol 27 pp 1913-30

Knox PL (1991) ordfThe restless urban landscape economic and socio-cultural change and thetransformation of metropolitan Washington DCordm Annals of the Association of AmericanGeographers Vol 81 pp 181-209

McFadden D (1979) ordfQuantitative methods for analysing travel behaviour of individuals somerecent developmentsordm in Hensher DA and Stopher PR (Eds) Behavioural TravelModelling Croom Helm London pp 279-318

McNaghten P and Urry J (1998) Contested Natures Sage London

McRobbie A (1989) ordfSecond-hand dresses and the role of the rag marketordm in McRobbie A (Ed)Zoot Suits and Second-hand Dresses An Anthology of Fashion and Music MacmillanLondon pp 23-49

Maddala GS (1983) Limited Dependent and Qualitative Variables in Econometrics EconometricSociety Monographs Cambridge University Press Cambridge

Maddala GS (1995) ordfSpeciregcation tests in limited dependentvariable modelsordm in Maddala GSPhillips PCB and Srinivasan TN (Eds) Advances in Economics and QuantitativeEconomics Blackwell Cambridge MA pp 1-49

Marsden T (1995) ordfBeyond agriculture regulating the new rural spacesordm Journal of RuralStudies Vol 11 pp 285-96

Marsden T (1998) ordfNew rural territories regulating the differentiated rural spaceordm Journal ofRural Studies Vol 14 pp 107-17

IJSE303

234

From the four variables used in the analysis only education is not statisticallysigniregcant The size of the currant plantation prior to uprooting indicates thatthe higher the size the higher the probability that the farmer had adopted theuprooting scheme Interpreting the marginal effects of Table III for everyadditional hectare of currant plantation (ten stremmata) the probability that theuprooting scheme has been adopted increases by 11 percent The probabilitythat the uprooting scheme has been adopted is higher for full-time farmers thanfor part-time farmers by 2 percent indicating the willingness of full-timefarmers to take advantage of the scheme and restructure their vineyard Theprobability that uprooting has been adopted is higher among farmers locatedinside the class A production zone by 23 percent again indicating the highervalue of restructuring production within the regulated zone of high qualityrather than outside it

It is evident from the analysis so far that the decision to adopt the uprootingscheme provided at the macro-level is highly inmacruenced by elements at themeso-level (location) and elements at the micro-level (size of operationorganisation of time) Consequently the decision to adopt organic cultivation ishighly inmacruenced by prior decisions taken at the macro-level (adoption of theuprooting scheme) and directly or indirectly elements of the meso level withmost important the location the associated PDO certiregcation and elements ofthe micro-level The analysis reveals the interconnected nature of the threeenvironmental levels and their signiregcance in simultaneously inmacruencing eachother Failing to understand and incorporate such interrelated qualitativerelations in the quantitative analysis will lead on to biased and unsatisfactoryresults

ConclusionsThe objective of the present paper is to perform a multi-level quantitative andqualitative analysis of the farmerrsquos decision to adopt organic currantcultivation Social ecology provided the context for this analysis enabling usboth to identify key factors and quantify their importance under the scope ofindividualrsquos perception of the environment Apart form the study of personalsocio-economic characteristics emphasis is placed on the way in which farmersunderstand locality on the one hand and prior participation to policy schemeson the other Analysis of the current policy and market environment indicatesthe existence of two interrelated trends The regrst refers to an ordfopportunitydevelopmentordm nature of policy interventions that seeks to provide and supportmeaningful alternatives to farmers in the peripheral rural areas The secondrefers to a growing marketrsquos contest toward realizing locational comparativeadvantages Quality increasingly related to location supports an outlet towardthe creation of a niche market The aim therefore is to provide evidence ofwhether or not farmers understand organic agriculture as an opportunity todifferentiate their product and enter a niche market

IJSE303

232

Compared with previous regulatory schemes organic cultivation givesfarmers the opportunity to develop a speciregc image for their product based onquality assurance In that sense organic cultivation is a highly ordfimageableordmscheme consisting of a more risky choice with higher however anticipatedbeneregts This is shown by the peculiar fact that education is an importantfactor regarding the adoption of organic cultivation whereas it does not affectadoption of previous policy schemes and in particular of the uprooting schemeThis may be related to the ability of better elaboration of a whole system ofinformation to reduce risk

For producers under the PDO certiregcation ie those in the quality A zone ofcultivation organic agriculture seems to be a follow-up scheme as most of themhad previously adopted the uprooting scheme as well This indicates a strongpolicy orientation a relationship of trust regarding the design and applicationof measures to sustain the distinct market position they already possess andthe beneregts they gain from that position In contrast for the majority ofproducers belonging to the class B and C zones of cultivation adoption oforganic agriculture is not a follow-up scheme Most of the producers in thisclass category have entered organic agriculture without prior participation tothe uprooting scheme For these farmers organic agriculture is the shift back toquality signaled by the EU and WTO attempts to control and suppress theproductivist logic For these producers it is reasonable to assume that theyhave identireged organic cultivation as a niche market offering an opportunity todifferentiate their product improve their market position and bridge the pricedifferential resultant from quality zoning and the consequent PDO certiregcationResults of the quantitative analysis indeed show that belonging to class A ofcultivation is not a statistically signiregcant variable determining the adoption oforganic cultivation and thus the relocalization of quality achieved through thePDO denomination is not the determining factor of a farmerrsquos decision to adoptorganic agriculture as a policy scheme

References

Allaire G and Sylvander B (1997) ordfQualiteAcirc speAcircciregque et systeAacuteme drsquo innovation territorialeordmCahiers drsquoEAcirc conomies et Sociologie Rurales Vol 4 pp 30-59

Bell D and Valentine G (1997) Consuming Geographies We Are Where We Eat RoutledgeLondon

Binder A (1972) ordfA new context for psychology social ecologyordm American Psychologist Vol 27pp 903-8

Binder A Stokols D and Catalano R (1975) ordfSocial ecology an emerging multidisciplineordmJournal of Environmental Education Vol 7 pp 32-43

Blundell R and Smith J (1994) ordfCoherency and estimation in simultaneous models withcensored or qualitative dependent variablesordm Journal of Econometrics Vol 64 pp 355-73

Bromley D (2001) ordfMad cows drugged cows and juggled genesordm Choices 2nd quarter pp 6-9

Clark G Bowler I Cockett A Ilbery B and Shaw A (1997) ordfInstitutions alternative farmingsystems and local reregulationordm Environment and Planning A Vol 29 pp 731-45

Socio-economicsof niche market

creation

233

Damianos D and Skuras D (1996) ordfFarm business and the development of alternative farmenterprises an empirical analysis in Greeceordm Journal of Rural Studies Vol 12 pp 273-83

Fine B (1994) ordfTowards a political economy of foodordm Review of International Political EconomyVol 1 pp 519-45

Flash Eurobarometer (1996) Les Labels de QualiteAcirc Eurobarometer Special Report 93commission of the European Communities Brussels

Gilg A and Battershill M (1998) ordfQuality farm food in Europe a possible alternative to theindustrialised food market and to current agri-environmental policies lessons fromFranceordm Food Policy Vol 23 pp 25-40

Glennie P and Thrift N (1996) ordfConsumption shopping and genderordm in Lowe M andWrigley N (Eds) Retailing Consumption and Capital Longman Group Harlowpp 221-38

Goodman D and Redclift M (1994) ordfConstructing a political economy of foodordm Review ofInternational Political Economy Vol 1 pp 547-52

Goodman D and Watts M (1994) ordfReconregguring the rural or fording the divide capitalistrestructuring and the global agro-food systemordm Environment and Planning D pp 1-49

Green W (1997) Econometric Analysis Prentice-Hall International London

Gronow J (1993) ordfWhat is good tasteordm Social Science Information Vol 32 pp 279-301

Ilbery B and Kneafsey M (1999) ordfNiche markets and regional speciality food products inEurope towards a research agendaordm Environment and Planning A Vol 31 pp 2207-22

Ilbery B Kneafsey M SoEgravederlund A and Dimara E (2001) ordfQuality imagery and marketingproducer perspectives on quality products and services in the lagging rural regions of theEuropean Unionordm Geograregska Annaler Vol 83 pp 27-40

Jackson P and Holbrook B (1995) ordfMultiple meanings shopping and the cultural politics ofidentityordm Environment and Planning A Vol 27 pp 1913-30

Knox PL (1991) ordfThe restless urban landscape economic and socio-cultural change and thetransformation of metropolitan Washington DCordm Annals of the Association of AmericanGeographers Vol 81 pp 181-209

McFadden D (1979) ordfQuantitative methods for analysing travel behaviour of individuals somerecent developmentsordm in Hensher DA and Stopher PR (Eds) Behavioural TravelModelling Croom Helm London pp 279-318

McNaghten P and Urry J (1998) Contested Natures Sage London

McRobbie A (1989) ordfSecond-hand dresses and the role of the rag marketordm in McRobbie A (Ed)Zoot Suits and Second-hand Dresses An Anthology of Fashion and Music MacmillanLondon pp 23-49

Maddala GS (1983) Limited Dependent and Qualitative Variables in Econometrics EconometricSociety Monographs Cambridge University Press Cambridge

Maddala GS (1995) ordfSpeciregcation tests in limited dependentvariable modelsordm in Maddala GSPhillips PCB and Srinivasan TN (Eds) Advances in Economics and QuantitativeEconomics Blackwell Cambridge MA pp 1-49

Marsden T (1995) ordfBeyond agriculture regulating the new rural spacesordm Journal of RuralStudies Vol 11 pp 285-96

Marsden T (1998) ordfNew rural territories regulating the differentiated rural spaceordm Journal ofRural Studies Vol 14 pp 107-17

IJSE303

234

Compared with previous regulatory schemes organic cultivation givesfarmers the opportunity to develop a speciregc image for their product based onquality assurance In that sense organic cultivation is a highly ordfimageableordmscheme consisting of a more risky choice with higher however anticipatedbeneregts This is shown by the peculiar fact that education is an importantfactor regarding the adoption of organic cultivation whereas it does not affectadoption of previous policy schemes and in particular of the uprooting schemeThis may be related to the ability of better elaboration of a whole system ofinformation to reduce risk

For producers under the PDO certiregcation ie those in the quality A zone ofcultivation organic agriculture seems to be a follow-up scheme as most of themhad previously adopted the uprooting scheme as well This indicates a strongpolicy orientation a relationship of trust regarding the design and applicationof measures to sustain the distinct market position they already possess andthe beneregts they gain from that position In contrast for the majority ofproducers belonging to the class B and C zones of cultivation adoption oforganic agriculture is not a follow-up scheme Most of the producers in thisclass category have entered organic agriculture without prior participation tothe uprooting scheme For these farmers organic agriculture is the shift back toquality signaled by the EU and WTO attempts to control and suppress theproductivist logic For these producers it is reasonable to assume that theyhave identireged organic cultivation as a niche market offering an opportunity todifferentiate their product improve their market position and bridge the pricedifferential resultant from quality zoning and the consequent PDO certiregcationResults of the quantitative analysis indeed show that belonging to class A ofcultivation is not a statistically signiregcant variable determining the adoption oforganic cultivation and thus the relocalization of quality achieved through thePDO denomination is not the determining factor of a farmerrsquos decision to adoptorganic agriculture as a policy scheme

References

Allaire G and Sylvander B (1997) ordfQualiteAcirc speAcircciregque et systeAacuteme drsquo innovation territorialeordmCahiers drsquoEAcirc conomies et Sociologie Rurales Vol 4 pp 30-59

Bell D and Valentine G (1997) Consuming Geographies We Are Where We Eat RoutledgeLondon

Binder A (1972) ordfA new context for psychology social ecologyordm American Psychologist Vol 27pp 903-8

Binder A Stokols D and Catalano R (1975) ordfSocial ecology an emerging multidisciplineordmJournal of Environmental Education Vol 7 pp 32-43

Blundell R and Smith J (1994) ordfCoherency and estimation in simultaneous models withcensored or qualitative dependent variablesordm Journal of Econometrics Vol 64 pp 355-73

Bromley D (2001) ordfMad cows drugged cows and juggled genesordm Choices 2nd quarter pp 6-9

Clark G Bowler I Cockett A Ilbery B and Shaw A (1997) ordfInstitutions alternative farmingsystems and local reregulationordm Environment and Planning A Vol 29 pp 731-45

Socio-economicsof niche market

creation

233

Damianos D and Skuras D (1996) ordfFarm business and the development of alternative farmenterprises an empirical analysis in Greeceordm Journal of Rural Studies Vol 12 pp 273-83

Fine B (1994) ordfTowards a political economy of foodordm Review of International Political EconomyVol 1 pp 519-45

Flash Eurobarometer (1996) Les Labels de QualiteAcirc Eurobarometer Special Report 93commission of the European Communities Brussels

Gilg A and Battershill M (1998) ordfQuality farm food in Europe a possible alternative to theindustrialised food market and to current agri-environmental policies lessons fromFranceordm Food Policy Vol 23 pp 25-40

Glennie P and Thrift N (1996) ordfConsumption shopping and genderordm in Lowe M andWrigley N (Eds) Retailing Consumption and Capital Longman Group Harlowpp 221-38

Goodman D and Redclift M (1994) ordfConstructing a political economy of foodordm Review ofInternational Political Economy Vol 1 pp 547-52

Goodman D and Watts M (1994) ordfReconregguring the rural or fording the divide capitalistrestructuring and the global agro-food systemordm Environment and Planning D pp 1-49

Green W (1997) Econometric Analysis Prentice-Hall International London

Gronow J (1993) ordfWhat is good tasteordm Social Science Information Vol 32 pp 279-301

Ilbery B and Kneafsey M (1999) ordfNiche markets and regional speciality food products inEurope towards a research agendaordm Environment and Planning A Vol 31 pp 2207-22

Ilbery B Kneafsey M SoEgravederlund A and Dimara E (2001) ordfQuality imagery and marketingproducer perspectives on quality products and services in the lagging rural regions of theEuropean Unionordm Geograregska Annaler Vol 83 pp 27-40

Jackson P and Holbrook B (1995) ordfMultiple meanings shopping and the cultural politics ofidentityordm Environment and Planning A Vol 27 pp 1913-30

Knox PL (1991) ordfThe restless urban landscape economic and socio-cultural change and thetransformation of metropolitan Washington DCordm Annals of the Association of AmericanGeographers Vol 81 pp 181-209

McFadden D (1979) ordfQuantitative methods for analysing travel behaviour of individuals somerecent developmentsordm in Hensher DA and Stopher PR (Eds) Behavioural TravelModelling Croom Helm London pp 279-318

McNaghten P and Urry J (1998) Contested Natures Sage London

McRobbie A (1989) ordfSecond-hand dresses and the role of the rag marketordm in McRobbie A (Ed)Zoot Suits and Second-hand Dresses An Anthology of Fashion and Music MacmillanLondon pp 23-49

Maddala GS (1983) Limited Dependent and Qualitative Variables in Econometrics EconometricSociety Monographs Cambridge University Press Cambridge

Maddala GS (1995) ordfSpeciregcation tests in limited dependentvariable modelsordm in Maddala GSPhillips PCB and Srinivasan TN (Eds) Advances in Economics and QuantitativeEconomics Blackwell Cambridge MA pp 1-49

Marsden T (1995) ordfBeyond agriculture regulating the new rural spacesordm Journal of RuralStudies Vol 11 pp 285-96

Marsden T (1998) ordfNew rural territories regulating the differentiated rural spaceordm Journal ofRural Studies Vol 14 pp 107-17

IJSE303

234

Damianos D and Skuras D (1996) ordfFarm business and the development of alternative farmenterprises an empirical analysis in Greeceordm Journal of Rural Studies Vol 12 pp 273-83

Fine B (1994) ordfTowards a political economy of foodordm Review of International Political EconomyVol 1 pp 519-45

Flash Eurobarometer (1996) Les Labels de QualiteAcirc Eurobarometer Special Report 93commission of the European Communities Brussels

Gilg A and Battershill M (1998) ordfQuality farm food in Europe a possible alternative to theindustrialised food market and to current agri-environmental policies lessons fromFranceordm Food Policy Vol 23 pp 25-40

Glennie P and Thrift N (1996) ordfConsumption shopping and genderordm in Lowe M andWrigley N (Eds) Retailing Consumption and Capital Longman Group Harlowpp 221-38

Goodman D and Redclift M (1994) ordfConstructing a political economy of foodordm Review ofInternational Political Economy Vol 1 pp 547-52

Goodman D and Watts M (1994) ordfReconregguring the rural or fording the divide capitalistrestructuring and the global agro-food systemordm Environment and Planning D pp 1-49

Green W (1997) Econometric Analysis Prentice-Hall International London

Gronow J (1993) ordfWhat is good tasteordm Social Science Information Vol 32 pp 279-301

Ilbery B and Kneafsey M (1999) ordfNiche markets and regional speciality food products inEurope towards a research agendaordm Environment and Planning A Vol 31 pp 2207-22

Ilbery B Kneafsey M SoEgravederlund A and Dimara E (2001) ordfQuality imagery and marketingproducer perspectives on quality products and services in the lagging rural regions of theEuropean Unionordm Geograregska Annaler Vol 83 pp 27-40

Jackson P and Holbrook B (1995) ordfMultiple meanings shopping and the cultural politics ofidentityordm Environment and Planning A Vol 27 pp 1913-30

Knox PL (1991) ordfThe restless urban landscape economic and socio-cultural change and thetransformation of metropolitan Washington DCordm Annals of the Association of AmericanGeographers Vol 81 pp 181-209

McFadden D (1979) ordfQuantitative methods for analysing travel behaviour of individuals somerecent developmentsordm in Hensher DA and Stopher PR (Eds) Behavioural TravelModelling Croom Helm London pp 279-318

McNaghten P and Urry J (1998) Contested Natures Sage London

McRobbie A (1989) ordfSecond-hand dresses and the role of the rag marketordm in McRobbie A (Ed)Zoot Suits and Second-hand Dresses An Anthology of Fashion and Music MacmillanLondon pp 23-49

Maddala GS (1983) Limited Dependent and Qualitative Variables in Econometrics EconometricSociety Monographs Cambridge University Press Cambridge

Maddala GS (1995) ordfSpeciregcation tests in limited dependentvariable modelsordm in Maddala GSPhillips PCB and Srinivasan TN (Eds) Advances in Economics and QuantitativeEconomics Blackwell Cambridge MA pp 1-49

Marsden T (1995) ordfBeyond agriculture regulating the new rural spacesordm Journal of RuralStudies Vol 11 pp 285-96

Marsden T (1998) ordfNew rural territories regulating the differentiated rural spaceordm Journal ofRural Studies Vol 14 pp 107-17

IJSE303

234

Monroe KB and Krishnan R (1985) ordfThe effects of price and subjective product evaluationsordmin Jacoby J and Olson J (Eds) Perceived Quality Lexington Books Lexington MApp 209-32

Morris C and Young C (2000) ordf`Seed to shelfrsquo `teat to tablersquo `barley to beerrsquo and `womb to tombrsquodiscources of food quality and quality assurance schemes in the UKordm Journal of RuralStudies Vol 16 pp 103-15

Murdoch J (1995) ordfActor-networks and the evolution of economic forms combining descriptionand explanation in theories of regulation macrexible specialization and networksordmEnvironment and Planning A Vol 27 pp 731-57

Murdoch J and Marsden T (1995) ordfThe spatialization of politics local and national actorspaces in environmental conmacrictordm Transactions of the Institute of British GeographersVol 20 pp 368-80

OrsquoNeill M and Black M (1996) ordfCurrent quality issues in the Northern Ireland tourism sectorordmThe Total Quality Magazine Vol 8 pp 15-19

Ophuis PA and van Trijp H (1995) ordfPerceived quality a market driven and consumer orientedapproachordm Food Quality and Preference Vol 6 pp 177-83

Rosen D (1984) ordfConsumer perceptions for generic grocery products a comparison acrossproduct categoriesordm Journal of Retailing Vol 60 pp 64-80

Saha A Love AH and Schwart R (1994) ordfAdoption of emerging technologies under outputuncertaintyordm American Journal of Agricultural Economics Vol 76 pp 836-46

Whiteley MJ (1999) ordfConceptual social ecologyordm available at wwwsewebucieducsecsehtml

Socio-economicsof niche market

creation

235