The Effect of Administrative Burden on Farmers’ Perceptions of Cross‐Compliance‐Based Direct Payment Policy

• Published date: 01 July 2021
• Author: Gabriele Mack,Christian Ritzel,Katja Heitkämper,Nadja El Benni
• Date: 01 July 2021
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/puar.13335

This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License, which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited

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Abstract: In this study, we test the hypothesis that farmers’ experienced administrative burden affects their policy

perceptions. Based on survey data from 808 randomly chosen Swiss farmers, a latent class approach is used to depict

the heterogeneity of farmers’ policy perceptions. We find that 20 percent of farmers are grumpy with the current direct

payment policy, 23 percent are supporters, and 57 percent are indifferent, meaning that the latter group of farmers

neither agree nor disagree with the direct payment policy. Regression results indicate that the higher the perceived

administrative burden, the higher the probability of belonging to the grumpy class of farmers. Additionally, our results

show that grumpy farmers have less social exchange than their peers and exhibit lower environmental awareness. Our

findings show that the bureaucracy involved in agricultural policy matters not only because it increases private and

public administrative costs but also because it negatively shapes farmers’ view of agricultural policy.

Evidence for Practice

• A minority of 20 percent of Swiss farmers has a negative perception of the cross-compliance-based direct

payment policy (grumpy farmers).

• Farmers’ experienced administrative burden negatively influences their perception of the cross-compliance

based direct payment policy.

• Farmers who are less socially involved and less environmentally aware are more likely to be grumpy about the

cross-compliance-based direct payment policy.

• Based on our findings, policy makers can more appropriately address dissatisfaction with politics in rural areas.

The shift in agricultural policy from price

support to direct payments and the growing

number of environmental regulations have

substantially increased farmers’ administrative

requirements (Falconer2000; Falconer and

Saunders2002; McCann et al.2005; Rørstad, Vatn,

and Kvakkestad2007). If farmers want to receive

payments from the state, they have to fill in a number

of forms and compile various documents annually to

prove eligibility.

Since the European Union (EU) introduced

direct payments in 1992, farmers have criticized

the associated bureaucratization of the common

agricultural policy (CAP) (Daugbjerg2003). Even in

1999, on average 61 percent of EU farmers thought

that CAP administrative procedures were “far too

heavy” (30 percent), or “too heavy” (31 percent)

(Commission2000, cited in Daugbjerg2003).

Although European farmers’ unions have constantly

demanded a simplification of administrative

procedures during the last 20 years, farmers still

complain about the administrative requirements.

For example, a survey by Mack, Stoinescu, and

Heitkämper(2019) conducted in Switzerland in

2019 has shown that a majority of farmers (63

percent) perceived their administrative requirements

as onerous or much too onerous. In the media,

some farmers even describe themselves as “slaves of

the state” (ZSZ Zürichsee-Zeitung2019). Various

studies have confirmed that farmers often perceive

administrative requirements as complex, stressful,

and demanding (Kallioniemi et al.2016; Reissig,

Crameri, and von Wyl2019; Vernimmen, Verbeke,

and Huylenbroeck2000).

A growing body of research is focusing on the

consequences when administrative requirements

are experienced as a burden. Evidence from

public administration research suggests that the

administrative burden experienced can promote

as well as undermine visions of citizenship such

as social trust, civic engagement, confidence in

government, and trust in public officials (Wichowsky

and Moynihan2008). Herd and Moynihan(2018,

2) stated that “the presence of burdens makes the

difference as to whether government is experienced as

accessible or opaque, simple or bewildering, respectful

or antagonistic.” This is considered as particularly

important “in our current age of polarization and

declining faith in the government” (Herd and

Moynihan2018, 3). In this context, it has been shown

Gabriele Mack

Christian Ritzel

Katja Heitkämper

Nadja El Benni

Agroscope, Swiss Federal Centre of Excellence for

Research in the Agriculture and Food Sector

The Effect of Administrative Burden on Farmers’ Perceptions

of Cross-Compliance-Based Direct Payment Policy

Research Article

Nadja El Benni is head of the research

department “Competitiveness and System

Evaluation” and member of the Directory

board of Agroscope, the Swiss Centre of

Excellence for research in the agriculture

and food sector, affiliated with the Federal

Office for Agriculture. Her research interest

is on the effect of agricultural policy on

farmers’ decision-making and its effects on

sustainability at farm and sector level.

Email: nadja.el-benni@agroscope.admin.ch

Katja Heitkämper is a researcher at

the Automation and Labor Organization

Research Group of Agroscope, the Swiss

Federal Centre of Excellence for research in

the agriculture and food sector. Her research

focuses on labor economics in agriculture

and modelling of labor time requirement.

Email: Katja.heitkaemper@agroscope.

admin.ch

Christian Ritzel is a research fellow at

the Socioeconomic Research Group of

Agroscope, the Swiss Federal Centre of

Excellence for research in the agriculture

and food sector. His research focuses on

socio-economic aspects of agriculture,

nutrition, and trade.

Email: Christian.ritzel@agroscope.admin.ch

Gabriele Mack is a senior researcher

at the Socioeconomic Research Group of

Agroscope, the Swiss Federal Centre of

Excellence for research in the agriculture

and food sector. Her research focuses on

socio-economic aspects of agricultural

policy and agent-based agricultural sector

modelling.

Email: Gabriele.mack@agroscope.admin.ch

Public Administration Review,

Vol. 81, Iss. 4, pp. 664–675. © 2020 The

Authors. Public Administration Review

published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of

The American Society for Public Administration.

DOI: 10.1111/puar.13335.