Direct payments represent a large share of Swiss farmers’ total household income but compliance
with related requirements often entails a high administrative burden. This causes
individuals to experience policy implementation as onerous. Based on a framework for
administrative burden in citizen-state interactions, we test whether farmers’ individual knowledge,
psychological costs and compliance costs help to explain their perception of administrative
burden related to direct payments. We refine this framework by testing different
specifications of interrelations between psychological costs and perceived administrative
burden based on findings from policy feedback theory and education research. Structural
Equation Modeling (SEM) is applied to data collected from a representative sample of 808
Swiss farmers by postal questionnaire in 2019. We find that compliance costs and psychological
costs contribute significantly to the perceived administrative burden. In contrast,
farmers’ knowledge level contributes to this perception not directly but indirectly, with higher
knowledge reducing psychological costs. Our results support policy feedback theory, in that
a high level of administrative burden increases psychological costs. Furthermore, well-educated
and well-informed farmers show a more positive attitude toward agricultural policy
and thus perceive administrative tasks as less onerous. Policy-makers should invest in the
reduction of administrative requirements to reduce compliance costs.