Citizens’ Willingness to Pay for Sustainable Innovations: Evidence from Six European Union Member States

Abstract

SummaryInnovations in the agri‐food industry targeting the strengthening of sustainability have recently increased their emphasis on compliance with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In the H2020 CO‐FRESH project, seven sustainable innovations have been implemented by seven local farms and companies in six EU Member States using diversified formats, including a smart irrigation system, reutilising water in processing, and sensors for precisely applying fertilisers. Previous studies have predominantly focused on sustainable innovations in one Member State but not at a pan‐European level. In this study, we adopted a choice experiment to assess citizens’ Willingness‐To‐Pay (WTP) for public goods associated with sustainable innovations in Europe. The common attributes derived from different innovations enable a cross‐country comparison of the WTP of citizens living near innovation sites for carbon emissions, biodiversity and local employment. The results indicate European citizens’ different WTP for public goods and significant regional heterogeneity of socio‐demographics among citizen clusters. A successful agricultural transition must be socially inclusive. This study has policy implications for various stakeholders in the agri‐food value chain as well as policymakers when deciding on optimally allocating resources or implementing policy incentives to enhance sustainability and avoid ‘one‐size‐fits‐all’ applications, considering the heterogeneity in Europe.