The capability of fundamental values and guānxi to reduce negative external effects of Chinese agriculture

Abstract

Abstract China is the world's largest producer and consumer of agricultural products, but the intensive agriculture contributes in a remarkable manner to environmental problems. Since environmental protection has recently become a popular issue in China, the government attaches great importance to the formulation of laws and regulations. Accordingly, China faces serious challenges inter alia in the accomplishment of effective agricultural training, environmentally sensitive farming and especially in the farmers' willingness to adopt optimised farming approaches. In order to promote a sustainable adaption of optimised agricultural techniques, farmers' behaviour and their production decisions are crucial. Based on a social–psychological approach of individual behaviour, this contribution endeavours to close a considerable gap in analysing the Chinese farmers' fundamental value positions and their social fallback system, namely personal relationship networks called guānxi. Next to the theoretical framework, ...