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Incentivizing Sustainable Agriculture in Indonesia: Empirical Essays on the Role of Social Norms and Information Provision
No full textThe Green Revolution (GR) was one of the most transformative events in modern agricultural history. It was characterized by the widespread adoption of high-yield crop varieties, synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, and advanced irrigation systems. By significantly increasing agricultural productivity, the GR responded to global food shortages and hence played a crucial role in educing hunger, particularly in developing economies. However, while the GR alleviated food insecurity and stimulated economic development, it also brought about several unintended consequences like environmental degradation, as well as, widening socio-economic inequalities. Farmers, particularly in South and Southeast Asia, indulged heavily in fertilizer overapplication, which led to declining soil health and long-term sustainability concerns. Recognizing these challenges, the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) placed significant emphasis on sustainable agriculture, particularly through SDG - 2, which seeks to end hunger and promote sustainable food production. In line with these efforts, there has been a growing movement by several countries and international organizations towards promoting sustainable agricultural practices that balances agricultural productivity with environmental conservation.
This dissertation contributes to this discourse on sustainable agriculture by examining key socio-economic factors that influence the adoption of sustainable farming practices among smallholder farmers in Indonesia. Indonesia’s agricultural landscape, particularly its rice farming sector, has been shaped by decades of Green Revolution policies, with Java serving as a focal point for agricultural intensification. While these policies led to impressive yield increases and national self-sufficiency in rice production by the mid-1980s, they also resulted in several environmental and economic challenges, including excessive use of chemical fertilizers, soil nutrient imbalances, and long-term land degradation. In response, the Indonesian government introduced several sustainability-focused policies, including Integrated Pest Management (IPM), Farmer Field Schools (FFS), and the “Go Organic 2010” initiative. Despite these efforts, adoption of sustainable farming practices remains limited, raising critical questions about the barriers that prevent smallholder farmers from transitioning away from intensive chemical input use.
The dissertation focuses on three interrelated research questions that explore the role of social networks, information provision, and economic incentives in shaping farmers’ decisions regarding sustainable agriculture. These questions are addressed through a combination of mixed-methods research and randomized controlled trials (RCTs) conducted in Java, specifically in the regions of Yogyakarta and Tasikmalaya.
The first research question investigates whether and how social networks and peer effects influence farmers’ input decisions, particularly regarding fertilizer application. This study builds on existing literature on social networks in agriculture and examines the extent to which perceptions of farming norms - the visible greenness levels of rice plants - affect farmers’ willingness to adopt more sustainable practices. Using a mixed-methods approach, including survey experiments and social network analysis, the study finds that personal opinions about the importance of plant greenness significantly influence farmers’ input decisions. However, second-order perceptions - farmers’ beliefs about how others in their farming network think about their farming choices - do not play a decisive role in shaping actual adoption behaviour. This finding contrasts with previous studies that emphasize the role of social pressure in agricultural decision-making, suggesting that while social learning plays an important role, it does not always operate through peer-effect mechanisms. The results highlight the complexity of social influences in agricultural adoption decisions and the need for more nuanced approaches to integrating behavioural insights into policy interventions.
The second research question investigates the role of information provision, particularly about site-specific nutrition, in promoting sustainable soil management practices among smallholder farmers. A large-scale RCT was conducted in 69 villages to assess whether targeted agricultural extension trainings, along with soil testing services, can drive farmers’ adoption of sustainable soil management practices. Villages were randomly assigned to - a treatment group (T1) that received one-day training on soil health management, a second treatment group that received both training and soil tests (T2), and a control group. The study reveals that while training sessions increased awareness and adoption of simple sustainable practices - such as the use of the Leaf Colour Chart (LCC) - there was limited impact on broader behavioural changes, such as the adoption of organic fertilizers or precision fertilizer application. However, the additional provision of soil testing led to measurable reductions in nitrogen fertilizer use while simultaneously increasing yields, demonstrating the potential for personalized, site-specific soil nutrient recommendations to improve both economic and environmental outcomes. A cost-benefit analysis reveals that additional day of soil testing training resulted in an average economic gain of USD 15.71 per farmer and also reduced CO2 emissions by approximately 2 kg per farmer. These findings highlight the potential for scalable, information-based interventions as well as the need for sustained follow-up support to reinforce behavioural changes among farmers.
The third research question explores farmers’ willingness to pay (WTP) for soil testing services and compares two different market-dissemination models - a private service model (where farmers purchase individual soil tests) and a collective (club good) model (where farmer groups collectively purchase a soil testing kit). Using an incentive-compatible auction based on the Becker- eGroot-Marschak (BDM) method, the study finds that farmers are willing to pay approximately 43% of the actual cost of soil tests, indicating strong demand for personalized soil fertility information. Furthermore, there is no significant difference in WTP between the private and club good models, suggesting minimal free-riding behaviour within farmer groups. The qualitative data further suggests that group-based models foster a sense of joint responsibility and knowledge-sharing, making them a viable alternative to individual service provision. A deeper analysis reveals that while private service models are more effective in low-subsidy environments, club good models become preferable when subsidies are higher, offering valuable insights into cost-sharing mechanisms for agricultural policy design.
Taken together, the findings of this dissertation have important implications for policymakers seeking to promote sustainable agricultural practices in developing economies. First, the dissertation highlights the nuanced role of social networks in shaping farmers’ adoption decisions, suggesting that interventions targeting social learning should account for the complexity of social networks and peer influence mechanisms. Second, the dissertation underscores the importance of integrating soil testing and personalized information into agricultural extension programs, as site-specific soil nutrient recommendations can enhance both farming productivity as well as environmental sustainability. Third, the study provides empirical evidence on cost-effective ways to scale up soil testing services, demonstrating that well- esigned market-dissemination strategies can increase farmers’ access to sustainability-enhancing technologies while maintaining financial viability.
Beyond its immediate policy relevance, this dissertation also contributes to broader theoretical debates in development economics, agricultural economics, and environmental sustainability. By integrating experimental research methods, the dissertation advances understanding of how farmers make technology adoption decisions under conditions of uncertainty and social influence. Additionally, the study provides a methodological contribution by demonstrating the effectiveness of combining RCTs with qualitative approaches to capture the complexities of real-world decision-making. Despite its contributions, the dissertation also identifies several avenues for future research. One key limitation is that the analysis focuses primarily on short - to medium-term impacts, leaving open questions about the long-term sustainability of behaviour change. Future studies should explore whether farmers continue to adopt sustainable practices once external support is removed.
Additionally, further research is needed to examine the role of digital agricultural advisory services, mobile-based soil testing platforms, and remote sensing technologies in complementing traditional extension services. Finally, more work is needed to explore the broader policy ecosystem surrounding agricultural sustainability, including the role of subsidies, market linkages, and certification schemes in incentivizing long-term adoption.
In conclusion, this dissertation provides a comprehensive analysis of the social, informational, and economic factors that drive sustainable agricultural transitions in Indonesia. By offering evidence-based insights into the design of more effective extension programs, market dissemination strategies, and cost- haring mechanisms, it contributes to ongoing efforts to create more resilient and environmentally sustainable food systems. The findings are not only relevant for Indonesia but also offer valuable lessons for other developing economies that are facing the challenge of balancing agricultural productivity with sustainability
Was trägt das Hoffen, wenn man nicht glaubt? : die Frage nach dem Absoluten im Angesicht des nahen Sterbens
No full text"Der Autor versucht hier keine Grenzziehung, religiöse von nichtreligiösen Motivationen der Hospiz- und Palliativarbeit zu trennen, sondern positioniert selber die Notwendigkeit eines Glaubensmomentes dort, wo angesichts des nahenden Todes der Sprung in die konkrete Frage nach dem Danach nur schwer atheistisch oder humanistisch begleitet werden kann. Deutlich wird, dass Begleitung eine z.T. doch inhaltlich deckungsgleiche Sprache benötigt, wobei es schon ausreichen kann, wenn zwei sich darin einig sind, dass wir nicht sprechen können von dem, was wir nicht erfahren können. Begleitung wird formal , wenn sie „nur" ausdrückt: „Ich verstehe zwar, dass Du eine Frage hast, ich verstehe aber nicht, was Du erfragst." Muss also ein, „ich verstehe zumindest, wonach Du fragst", nötig sein?
Promoting digital competencies in pre-service teachers : the impact of integrative learning opportunities
No full textOffering learning opportunities for developing digital competencies in pre-service teacher education remains challenging despite its growing importance in preparing future educators. This study investigates the effectiveness of integrative learning opportunities, called “digitally enhanced courses”, which combine subject-specific and digital learning objectives. Implemented at a German university (2019–2023). These courses aimed to promote digital competencies required for technology-supported teaching. Using survey data from 312 pre-service teachers, the research examined students’ self-assessed digital competencies, technology acceptance, and value–cost assessments through multiple measurement instruments, including TPACK scales, the Technology Acceptance Model, and Expectancy–Value beliefs. Results revealed significantly higher self-assessed digital competencies in private contexts compared to teaching situations. While mere course participation showed no significant impact, both the frequency and number of attended courses positively correlated with higher self-assessed digital skills across all TPACK dimensions. Additionally, increased technology acceptance and higher success expectations were associated with enhanced teaching-related digital competencies. The findings emphasize that the effectiveness of digitally enhanced courses is contingent upon systematic implementation and student engagement, highlighting the need for structured curricular integration of digital competency development in teacher education through comprehensive, spiral-curriculum approaches rather than isolated interventions. However, this study’s reliance on self-reported data may introduce social desirability and subjective estimation bias, and its cross-sectional design limits causal interpretations. Future research should employ longitudinal approaches to examine competency development over time, incorporate objective performance-based assessments, and explore how instructional design and curricular integration influence digital competency acquisition
Universitätsbibliothek Passau: Jahresbericht 2024
No full textJahresbericht der Universitätsbibliothek Passau für das Jahr 2024
Befunde und Erfahrungen zum Einsatz der Passauer Standards für Lehrkräftebildung in der Praxis
No full textInhalt
Gestufte Lehrkräftebildungsstandards in der Praxis der Hochschullehre: Befunde aus Projekten zur Weiterentwicklung der Lehre | 5
Sabrina Kufner & Jutta Mägdefrau
Kompetenzentwicklung in der Lehrkräftebildung im Rahmen des studienbegleitenden fachdidaktischen Praktikums im Fach Mathematik | 11
Jakob Heller & Matthias Brandl
Was bewirkt die Arbeit mit Standards? Ein Forschungsbericht aus dem Fachpraktikum Katholischer Religionsunterricht | 18
Hans Mendl, Rudolf Sitzberger, Julia Gsödl & Rebecca Schmid
Der Einsatz der Lehrkräftebildungsstandards in der Lehr:werkstatt - eine Erhebung zur Identifikation von Innovationspotentialen in der Begleitung von Schulpraktika | 27
Sabrina Kufner
Kompetenzentwicklung von Lehramtsstudierenden in der Konstruktion selbstregulationsförderlicher Arbeitsaufträge | 35
Jutta Mägdefrau
Standardbezogene Selbsteinschätzungen von Lehramtsstudierenden zur Klassenführung im Fach Musik | 46
Gabriele Schellberg & Christina Fehrenbach
Autorensteckbriefe | 5
Armut als Folge globaler Ungerechtigkeit? : zur Relevanz der Ansätze von Sen und Pogge
No full text"Unterschiedliche Gerechtigkeitsbegriffe führen zu voneinander abweichenden Schlussfolgerungen über die Art und die Akteure der Verantwortungsübernahme sowie die daraus abzuleitenden Strategien zur Überwindung der globalen Armut. Aus diesem Grund liegt das besondere Erkenntnisinteresse dieses Beitrags in der vergleichenden Analyse der Argumentationsstrukturen und Gerechtigkeitsmodelle zweier Philosophen, welche die entsprechenden Diskurse entscheidend beeinflusst haben - Thomas Pogge und Amartya Sen.
Tech titans and crypto giants : mutual returns predictability and trading strategy implications
No full textThis study examines the directional return predictability between the technology sector of U.S. stock market and three major cryptocurrencies (Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Dogecoin). Using daily data from August 7, 2015, to February 8, 2024, and the cross-quantilogram approach in both static and dynamic settings, the results reveal significant positive predictability in the stock market–cryptocurrency nexus. The technology sector, semiconductors subsector, and Nvidia Corporation exert predictive power over cryptocurrency returns and vice versa across several quantiles and lags. When controlling for the impact of other financial variables, namely, U.S. dollar and U.S. treasury markets, the return predictability holds, especially for the two largest cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin and Ethereum, which reflects their importance and tighter connections with the U.S. technology sector. A trading strategy based on the results of the cross-quantilograms outperforms a benchmark strategy (i.e., always long position in either stocks or cryptocurrency), which underlines the practical implications of our main findings, particularly in terms of the significant return interactions between U.S. technology/semiconductors stocks and large cryptocurrencies
Quantitative and qualitative data on historical vertebrate distributions in Bavaria 1845
No full textArchival collections contain an underutilized wealth of biodiversity data, encapsulated in government files and other historical documents. In 1845, the Bavarian government conducted a comprehensive national survey on the occurrence of 44 selected vertebrate species across the country. The detailed expert responses from 119 forestry offices, totalling 520 handwritten pages, have been preserved in the Bavarian State Archives. In this study, we digitized, annotated, geographically referenced, and published these historical records, making them widely available as data for research and conservation planning. Our dataset, openly accessible through the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) and Zenodo, contains 5,467 species occurrence records from 1845. Besides the binary presence/absence data, we have also published the original textual survey responses, which contain rich qualitative information, such as species abundances, population trends, habitats, forest management practices, and human-nature relationships. This information can be further processed and interpreted to address a range of questions in historical and contemporary ecology
Optimal convergence rates of MCMC integration for functions with unbounded second moment
No full textWe study the Markov chain Monte Carlo estimator for numerical integration for func-
tions that do not need to be square integrable with respect to the invariant distribution.
For chains with a spectral gap we show that the absolute mean error for L^p functions,
with p ∈ (1, 2), decreases like n^(1/p)−1 , which is known to be the optimal rate. This
improves currently known results where an additional parameter δ > 0 appears and the
convergence is of order n^((1+δ)/p)−1
Advanced Ordered Weighted Averaging Methods in Robust Optimization
No full textIn decision-making under uncertainty, robust optimization is a critical tool across various fields, providing solutions that perform effectively across a range of scenarios where precise probabilities are unavailable or unreliable. Traditional approaches, such as min-max and min-max regret, focus on minimizing the worst-case outcomes and worst-case regret, respectively, often resulting in highly conservative solutions. To address this limitation, this dissertation investigates the Ordered Weighted Averaging (OWA) operator, which offers a flexible framework for aggregating outcomes according to varying risk preferences, from risk-averse to risk-neutral, encompassing traditional robust approaches as special cases.
This work is organized around three primary contributions that expand the application and understanding of OWA in robust optimization.
The first contribution develops a preference elicitation framework for OWA weights, enabling decision-makers to derive weighting schemes based on observed historical decisions, thereby aligning aggregation strategies with specific risk attitudes.
The second contribution introduces a novel variant of OWA for robust optimization, integrating OWA into a regret minimization framework to generalize both robust min-max and min-max regret approaches. This model is complemented by new complexity results, including insights into the inapproximability and approximability of OWA regret, providing stronger approximation bounds that asymptotically improve on previously established results for classic OWA models. These advancements position the OWA regret model as a powerful alternative to min-max regret, offering a more adaptable approach to risk-sensitive decision-making.
The third contribution addresses interval uncertainty, extending the OWA framework to scenarios where outcomes are represented as bounded intervals instead of discrete points. This interval-based OWA model accommodates real-world decision-making needs, where scenario data are uncertain or costly to specify. By using Value-at-Risk (VaR) in our definition, we provide a natural way to handle continuous ranges of uncertainty while maintaining computational tractability for large-scale problems.
Together, these contributions advance both the theoretical and practical applications of OWA in decision making, establishing OWA-based methods as versatile tools for addressing complex uncertainties across a variety of decision-making environments