• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.221-236
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• 1993

Economic conditions of Korean agriculture have been aggravated since farmers experienced the shortage of labor, instability of farm product price, lack of capital and pressure of opening domestic market. Nevertheless, agriculture must be maintained because structure of national economy can not be progressed without balanced growth of food industry. So the problem that we must solve is to keep agriculture competitive. In that case technology is important in terms of improving productivity, overcoming labor shortage and stabilizing price. This paper is to study the technology adoption on the farm level, focusing on the theories of technology adoption, their empirical test and effect of technology adoption on the farm household income. In this study five theories-independent model, linear model, middle class conservation model, modified middle class conservation model, basic needs and wealfare model- were introduced concerning differentiated technology adoption rate by farmers' class. Based on the survey of controlled strawberry farming in Nonsan County, Chungnam Province, who adopted six kinds of technology, modified middle class conservation model was found to explain five kinds of technology adoption pattern and linear model was useful to explain one kind of technology, that is, irrigation method, These results may mean that controlled strawbary cultivators of middle class were reluctant to accept new technology. There are many variables to effect on the technology accepting rate, that is, farmer's age, labor capacity, education level, cultivation career, size of total cultivated land, and size of strawberry farming land. LOGIT model was used to find which variable influence the technology adoption rate. Results of estimation showed that variables of cultivation career and total land size, of which coefficients were statistically significant at the 5 percent level, might be main influential factors in accepting more than three farming techniques. There was a significant income difference between farm households accepting new methods and those rejecting them. Especially in case of low class of farming group, income of farmers who was adopting new technology was examined to be much higher than that of farmers who did not adopt. This result suggests that new technology play an important role in increasing farm household income. Finally this study emphasized that there is a need to develop proper measure of technology transfer considering various socioeconomic conditions of farm households.

• Environmental and Resource Economics Review
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.135-166
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• 2008

This paper reports the empirical results of comparing the willingness to pay(WTP) for health risk reductions and the willingness to accept(WTA) for risk increases using experimental market methods in the first time in Korea. Health risks were defined as probabilities of premature death from exposure to one of As, Pb, and THM in tap water. A total of six experimental markets with 15 participants in each experiments were held using 20 repetitive Vickrey second-price sealed-bid auctions. To compare the effects of market experiences, trading a marketed good, candy bar, was introduced before the trading the non-marketed good, drinking water risks. Moreover, an objective risk information was provided after the first 10 trials to incorporate learning processes. Regardless of marketed or non-marketed goods, the mean of WTA exceeded the mean of WTP at the first auction trial. As experimental trials proceeded, the disparity between WTA and WTP for marketed goods disappeared. However results for non-marketed goods were rather mixed to the extent that WTA for health risks from As (relatively high risk leves) were significantly larger than WTP, while there were no significant difference between WTA and WTP for health risks fro Pb and THM (relatively low risk levels). On the other hand, participants seemed to respond in a 'rational' manner to the objective risk information provided, with positive learning effects of market-like experience(especially in the WTA experiments).