Hayley Chouinard
Hayley Chouinard, associate professor in economics, and expert in the economic evaluation of agricultural policies and in the economics of adopting innovative conservation techniques. She has developed a new theory for categorizing farmers and their attitudes toward conservation, which takes into consideration that not all farmers act from the same set of motives. This research will help policy makers create conservation programs in which more farmers will participate. The new model allows for various behaviors including profitability, conservation, and stewardship.
Dr. Chouinard and her team investigate the trade-off between profits and socially responsible activities when agricultural producers select farm practices. Instead of the profit-maximization framework, they model producer-behavior in an expanded utility framework built on production technology and two utility components: self and social interests. The framework introduces the inherent dissimilarities and social environmental motivations into farmer behavior. Based on this model, Chouinard and her team hypothesize that some farmers are willing to forego a portion of their profits to engage in socially responsible farm practices. Evidence from their empirical studies supports this theory.
Contact Info
E-mail: chouinard@wsu.edu