Role of attitudes in the decision to use futures markets: the case of the London Potato Futures market

Although agricultural futures markets offer a number of potential benefits to users, the extent of trade involvemen in UK futures markets has been less than in comparable markets in the United States. This does not appear to be due to poorer hedging performance. An investigation into patterns of use of the London Potato Futures market suggests that nonusers, and to a lesser extent past users, have negative perceptions of futures trading and it is argued that this operates as a barrier to the more extensive use of futures markets among farmers and merchants. © 1992 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.