Norms, gender, and payment method affect extraction behavior in a framed field experiment on community forestry in India
This paper presents results from a framed field experiment in which participants make decisions about extraction of a common-pool resource, a community forest. The experiment was designed and piloted as both a research activity and an experiential learning intervention during 2017-2018 with 120 grou...
| Autores principales: | , , , , , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Formato: | Artículo preliminar |
| Lenguaje: | Inglés |
| Publicado: |
International Food Policy Research Institute
2021
|
| Materias: | |
| Acceso en línea: | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/143424 |
| _version_ | 1855522791865974784 |
|---|---|
| author | Zhang, Wei Meinzen-Dick, Ruth S. Valappanandi, Sanoop Balakrishna, Raksha Reddy, Hemalatha Janssen, Marco A. Thomas, Liya Priyadarshini, Pratiti Kandikuppa, Sandeep Chaturvedi, Rahul Ghate, Rucha |
| author_browse | Balakrishna, Raksha Chaturvedi, Rahul Ghate, Rucha Janssen, Marco A. Kandikuppa, Sandeep Meinzen-Dick, Ruth S. Priyadarshini, Pratiti Reddy, Hemalatha Thomas, Liya Valappanandi, Sanoop Zhang, Wei |
| author_facet | Zhang, Wei Meinzen-Dick, Ruth S. Valappanandi, Sanoop Balakrishna, Raksha Reddy, Hemalatha Janssen, Marco A. Thomas, Liya Priyadarshini, Pratiti Kandikuppa, Sandeep Chaturvedi, Rahul Ghate, Rucha |
| author_sort | Zhang, Wei |
| collection | Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace) |
| description | This paper presents results from a framed field experiment in which participants make decisions about extraction of a common-pool resource, a community forest. The experiment was designed and piloted as both a research activity and an experiential learning intervention during 2017-2018 with 120 groups of resource users (split by gender) from 60 habitations in two Indian states, Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan. We examine whether local beliefs and norms about community forest, gender of participants, within-experiment treatments (non-communication, communication, and optional election of institutional arrangements (rules)) and remuneration methods affect harvest behaviour and groups’ tendency to cooperate. Furthermore, we explore whether the experiment and subsequent community debriefing had learning effects. Results reveal a “weak” Nash Equilibrium in which participants harvested substantially less than the Nash prediction even in the absence of communication, a phenomenon stronger for male than female participants in both states. For male groups in both states, both communication and optional rule election are associated with lower group harvest per round, as compared to the reference non-communication game. For female groups in both states, however, communication itself did not significantly slow down resource depletion; but the introduction of optional rule election did reduce harvest amounts. For both men and women in Andhra Pradesh and men in Rajasthan, incentivized payments to individual participants significantly lowered group harvest, relative to community flat payment, suggesting a possible “crowding-in” effect on pro-social norms. Despite the generally positive memory of the activity, reported actual changes are limited. This may be due to the lack of follow-up with the communities between the experiment and the revisit. The fact that many of the communities already have a good understanding of the importance of the relationships between (not) cutting trees and the ecosystem services from forests, with rules and strong internal norms against cutting that go beyond the felling of trees in the game, may have also meant that the game did not have as much to add. Findings have methodological and practical implications for designing behavioral intervention programs to improve common-pool resource governance. |
| format | Artículo preliminar |
| id | CGSpace143424 |
| institution | CGIAR Consortium |
| language | Inglés |
| publishDate | 2021 |
| publishDateRange | 2021 |
| publishDateSort | 2021 |
| publisher | International Food Policy Research Institute |
| publisherStr | International Food Policy Research Institute |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | CGSpace1434242025-12-02T21:02:52Z Norms, gender, and payment method affect extraction behavior in a framed field experiment on community forestry in India Zhang, Wei Meinzen-Dick, Ruth S. Valappanandi, Sanoop Balakrishna, Raksha Reddy, Hemalatha Janssen, Marco A. Thomas, Liya Priyadarshini, Pratiti Kandikuppa, Sandeep Chaturvedi, Rahul Ghate, Rucha gender collective ownership field experimentation extraction forests capacity development experiential learning common-pool resource remuneration forestry This paper presents results from a framed field experiment in which participants make decisions about extraction of a common-pool resource, a community forest. The experiment was designed and piloted as both a research activity and an experiential learning intervention during 2017-2018 with 120 groups of resource users (split by gender) from 60 habitations in two Indian states, Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan. We examine whether local beliefs and norms about community forest, gender of participants, within-experiment treatments (non-communication, communication, and optional election of institutional arrangements (rules)) and remuneration methods affect harvest behaviour and groups’ tendency to cooperate. Furthermore, we explore whether the experiment and subsequent community debriefing had learning effects. Results reveal a “weak” Nash Equilibrium in which participants harvested substantially less than the Nash prediction even in the absence of communication, a phenomenon stronger for male than female participants in both states. For male groups in both states, both communication and optional rule election are associated with lower group harvest per round, as compared to the reference non-communication game. For female groups in both states, however, communication itself did not significantly slow down resource depletion; but the introduction of optional rule election did reduce harvest amounts. For both men and women in Andhra Pradesh and men in Rajasthan, incentivized payments to individual participants significantly lowered group harvest, relative to community flat payment, suggesting a possible “crowding-in” effect on pro-social norms. Despite the generally positive memory of the activity, reported actual changes are limited. This may be due to the lack of follow-up with the communities between the experiment and the revisit. The fact that many of the communities already have a good understanding of the importance of the relationships between (not) cutting trees and the ecosystem services from forests, with rules and strong internal norms against cutting that go beyond the felling of trees in the game, may have also meant that the game did not have as much to add. Findings have methodological and practical implications for designing behavioral intervention programs to improve common-pool resource governance. 2021-12-31 2024-05-22T12:14:03Z 2024-05-22T12:14:03Z Working Paper https://hdl.handle.net/10568/143424 en https://doi.org/10.2499/p15738coll2.134238 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2018.02.006 https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-08416-210338 Open Access application/pdf International Food Policy Research Institute Zhang, Wei; Meinzen-Dick, Ruth Suseela; Valappanandi, Sanoop; Balakrishna, Raksha; Reddy, Hemalatha; Janssen, Marco A.; Thomas, Liya; Priyadarshini, Pratiti; Kandikuppa, Sandeep; Chaturvedi, Rahul; and Ghate, Rucha. 2021. Norms, gender, and payment method affect extraction behavior in a framed field experiment on community forestry in India. IFPRI Discussion Paper 2091. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). https://doi.org/10.2499/p15738coll2.134949. |
| spellingShingle | gender collective ownership field experimentation extraction forests capacity development experiential learning common-pool resource remuneration forestry Zhang, Wei Meinzen-Dick, Ruth S. Valappanandi, Sanoop Balakrishna, Raksha Reddy, Hemalatha Janssen, Marco A. Thomas, Liya Priyadarshini, Pratiti Kandikuppa, Sandeep Chaturvedi, Rahul Ghate, Rucha Norms, gender, and payment method affect extraction behavior in a framed field experiment on community forestry in India |
| title | Norms, gender, and payment method affect extraction behavior in a framed field experiment on community forestry in India |
| title_full | Norms, gender, and payment method affect extraction behavior in a framed field experiment on community forestry in India |
| title_fullStr | Norms, gender, and payment method affect extraction behavior in a framed field experiment on community forestry in India |
| title_full_unstemmed | Norms, gender, and payment method affect extraction behavior in a framed field experiment on community forestry in India |
| title_short | Norms, gender, and payment method affect extraction behavior in a framed field experiment on community forestry in India |
| title_sort | norms gender and payment method affect extraction behavior in a framed field experiment on community forestry in india |
| topic | gender collective ownership field experimentation extraction forests capacity development experiential learning common-pool resource remuneration forestry |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/143424 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT zhangwei normsgenderandpaymentmethodaffectextractionbehaviorinaframedfieldexperimentoncommunityforestryinindia AT meinzendickruths normsgenderandpaymentmethodaffectextractionbehaviorinaframedfieldexperimentoncommunityforestryinindia AT valappanandisanoop normsgenderandpaymentmethodaffectextractionbehaviorinaframedfieldexperimentoncommunityforestryinindia AT balakrishnaraksha normsgenderandpaymentmethodaffectextractionbehaviorinaframedfieldexperimentoncommunityforestryinindia AT reddyhemalatha normsgenderandpaymentmethodaffectextractionbehaviorinaframedfieldexperimentoncommunityforestryinindia AT janssenmarcoa normsgenderandpaymentmethodaffectextractionbehaviorinaframedfieldexperimentoncommunityforestryinindia AT thomasliya normsgenderandpaymentmethodaffectextractionbehaviorinaframedfieldexperimentoncommunityforestryinindia AT priyadarshinipratiti normsgenderandpaymentmethodaffectextractionbehaviorinaframedfieldexperimentoncommunityforestryinindia AT kandikuppasandeep normsgenderandpaymentmethodaffectextractionbehaviorinaframedfieldexperimentoncommunityforestryinindia AT chaturvedirahul normsgenderandpaymentmethodaffectextractionbehaviorinaframedfieldexperimentoncommunityforestryinindia AT ghaterucha normsgenderandpaymentmethodaffectextractionbehaviorinaframedfieldexperimentoncommunityforestryinindia |