UC Irvine

The relationship between wealth & the adoption of agri'al innovations is usually reported to be positive. A theory which predicts that wealth has a negative relationship to adoption in some cases is developed & is modified to predict that the relationship will have curvilinear & negative parts at diff points in the wealth-rank continuum. Hyp's derived from the theory are tested with data from 7 studies of agri'al innovation. The Me (2nd from the top-wealth quartile) is found to be more conservative than would be predicted if the relationship were positive & linear, & the relationship is found to differ in earlier & later stages of the adoption process. The theory is stated in general terms & is potentially applicable to any situation involving stratification & risk-taking. HA.