In analysing potential policy responses to improve outcomes in collective-action problems, economists often focus on financial disincentives to reduce the expected gains from free-riding and thereby promote within-group cooperation. In this study, we investigate the potential for groups to develop non-financial disincentives to free riding, thereby promoting convergence towards collectively beneficial actions. Using a within-subjects laboratory experiment, participants play two multi-period public goods games sequentially: without and then with non-financial incentives activated by allowing for the endogenous formation of a social exclusion mechanism. Participants can choose to bear a personal cost to allow them to assign exclusion tickets to other participants whose contributions to the public good they judge negatively. The member(s) who accumulate the most tickets are excluded from a group activity that involves no monetary payoffs and is not linked to the main game. We show that the threat of exclusion, and later the experience of it, acts as a non-financial social disincentive to free ride. Lower contributors receive more exclusion tickets, and the presence of the exclusion mechanism reverses the typical decline in contributions. Moreover, experiencing exclusion strengthens the effectiveness of the subsequent exclusion threat. Willingness to incur personal costs to assign exclusion tickets increases over time. This pattern is mainly driven by normative expectations, particularly among individuals who perceive low tolerance for deviation as group contributions become more dispersed. In the absence of financial disincentives, these patterns show how non-financial incentives, shaped by more cooperative normative expectations, can foster group coordination and higher public-good contributions.

The resolution of collective-action problems often depends on social norms and pressure to conform to group behaviour, yet individuals typically differ in how strongly they perceive and internalise these norms. While existing models of norm change and social tipping often assume homogeneous and static normative expectations, recent evidence suggests substantial heterogeneity in the perceived norm strength. We study how different compositions of such heterogeneity within a community shape the emergence and internalisation of cooperative behaviour. We develop a spatial agent-based model in which agents follow a conditional-cooperation norm but differ in norm strength, characterised as either tight or loose. Agents interact locally and update their cooperation thresholds endogenously through a combination of payoff-driven learning and social learning from experiencing group behaviour. Our results show that introducing a moderate share of loose-norm individuals into otherwise tight-dominated communities can facilitate the emergence of cooperative tipping points by enabling cooperation to seed and spread locally, even when agents place zero weight on social-relative-to-financial learning. However, whether cooperation becomes internalised and persists depends critically on the relative weight given to social and financial learning. A higher weight on social learning amplifies local behavioural feedbacks, sharpens tipping-point dynamics, and allows agents with tight social norms to internalise cooperation such that it can be sustained with fewer cooperating group members. Once cooperation spreads, conformity pressure stabilises cooperative behaviour among loose-social-norm agents. Taken together, our findings highlight the importance of community composition and norm-strength heterogeneity for collective-action dynamics, and show how heterogeneity in perceived norm strength can generate abrupt and persistent transitions in cooperative behaviour.

Information on non-market values has the potential to improve decision making but approaches to measure these values are costly and may be inaccurate. This study develops a Bayesian value of information (VOI) model to evaluate when and if the benefit of conducting a non-market valuation (NMV) study exceeds the cost, and which method of those considered delivers the highest expected net benefit. The approach is illustrated using a water quality improvement decision, with VOI estimated for stated preference, revealed preference and benefit transfer methods, the first two implemented at varying degrees of best practice. Information on the anticipated accuracy of each valuation method is derived via structured expert-elicitation. Results show that the net VOI from NMV studies varies widely and depends on multiple factors, including project scale, the quality of existing knowledge, the accuracy of NMV methods, the type of values measured (e.g., use versus nonuse values) and the costs of applying each method. Findings suggest that familiar narratives regarding the value of NMV estimates may be too simplistic, suggesting that a more nuanced approach to study application is warranted. Although demonstrated for one case study, the approach can be adapted to many decision settings.

Because of the environmental and social benefits associated with urban greening, many cities around the world are implementing strategies to increase tree canopy cover, including along residential streets. However, procedures for developing and implementing these strategies do not always factor in public preferences, which can limit public acceptance. This paper explores public preferences for different characteristics of street trees. Where past studies have relied on capturing perceptions of street trees using rating scales for relatively few attributes, we apply best-worst scaling, which is a type of choice experiment, to assess preferences for 16 different tree characteristics. As the method requires trade-offs from respondents, it results in a systematic ranking of the tree characteristics considered, which represent different ecosystem services, physical attributes, and management requirements. We find that capacity to support local biodiversity and drought tolerance are the two characteristics that are most preferred. We also find that having visual appeal, requiring little maintenance, and having native origins are viewed favourably. Tree characteristics seen as less important include the size and growth rate of a tree, along with whether it holds cultural significance. Better understanding preferences for tree characteristics presents an opportunity for environmental managers to integrate tree species with more widely accepted attributes into urban greening programs.

Various policy interventions can be implemented to motivate individuals to adopt pro-environmental landscaping behaviors. Here we compare the influence of economic incentives and social norms on urban landowners'adoption of native gardens. First, we model the relationship between social norms and landowners' actual land use decisions. We estimate adoption intention under different support programs with a choice experiment, also considering social norms. We find that social norms can play a significant role in the adoption of native gardens, comparable to relatively expensive financial incentives. Therefore, social norms may enhance the performance of incentives to increase rates of land conservation. (JEL Q51, Q58)

Energy projects are often subject to polarised opinions, with both extreme support and extreme opposition being present. This polarisation is often not accounted for in models of public preferences for energy-related issues, which limits analysts' understanding of the dynamics of public acceptance of policies or projects, and how acceptance could be enhanced. The objectives of this study are to develop an approach to test and account for polarisation in vignette experiments, and measure levels and identify drivers of polarisation. Our case studies examine hydraulic fracturing and wind energy developments in Alberta, Canada. We use a latent-class modelling approach to account for polarised or extreme groups of respondents, which we identify as two groups of respondents who exhibit extreme support for or opposition to all energy developments, regardless of its characteristics. We demonstrate that more neutral individuals are more reactive to changes in the policy attributes presented in the experiments. Trust in entities, such as government, industry, and environmental organisations, contributes to explaining class membership. Modelling the incidence of polarisation and accounting for preference heterogeneity in vignette experiment responses can offer beneficial insights to researchers and policy-makers that conduct public engagement and consultation processes. Our results help inform how energy development policy and program changes can be made towards garnering support from members of the public whose views are sensitive to the characteristics of the changes.

Donald et al. (in press) misinterpret the central premise of the paper, incorrectly stating that we argue “carbon credit claims […] for increased sequestered carbon from early measurements are based on increases related to favourable climatic variations rather than improved land management”. At no point in our paper do we make this claim. Instead, our analysis concluded that “SOC stocks were primarily driven by rainfall,” while also acknowledging the role of improved land management in SOC dynamics.

Since its establishment in 1957, the Australasian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society (AARES) has gone through many changes but has continued to be highly valued by its members. In this paper, we update and expand Keith Campbell's earlier history of the Society. Notable changes include, the slowly shifting emphasis of members' work from farm issues towards resources, environment and development; changes to the name of the Society and its Journal; increasing internationalisation; the professional roles and interests of AARES members; the gender balance of the Society; and the number and types of awards given. Major changes in government departments and universities have had various impacts on AARES. The history highlights the intellectual and practical contributions made by AARES members and also the camaraderie that is a key benefit of being part of the Society.JEL Classification: A14

Nitrogen fertilizer is a key factor determining the physical and economic productivity of agriculture. Decisions about nitrogen involve various economic considerations, at the farm, regional or national level. Beyond the farm level, the economics of nitrogen are important in designing policies to limit off-farm impacts of nitrogen fertilizer use, such as water pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. This chapter explores the large and diverse literature on the economics of nitrogen in agriculture and the economics of off-farm impacts from nitrogen fertilisation. Issues covered include: the economics of nitrogen as an input to production; nitrogen and economic risk at the farm level; the economics of nitrogen fixation by legumes; the existence of flat payoff functions, which often allow flexibility in decisions about nitrogen fertilizer rates; explanations for over-application of nitrogen fertilizers by some farmers; the market for nitrogen fertilizer; and the economics of nitrogen pollution.

Food safety is an issue of growing concern in many developing countries. Threats to food safety in Vietnam include contamination with toxic chemicals, microbiological hazards and adulterated food. To determine Vietnamese consumers' willingness to pay for food safety of pork and vegetables, a discrete choice experiment was employed in the cities of Hanoi and Haiphong. Principal factor analysis and mixed logit models reveal that urban consumers are, on average, willing to pay considerable price premiums for food safety attributes. On average, consumers are willing to pay a price premium of 244% for vegetables produced with the safe application of pesticides, 70% premium for pork processed in certified abattoirs that assure pork safety and 67% price premium for pork if the convenience attribute is satisfied. Regarding vegetables, there is considerable heterogeneity in the extent to which consumers are willing to pay for growth-hormone-free vegetables, depending on their education, and in perceptions towards food safety risks resulting from chemical hazards and foodborne illness in Vietnam. For pork, if consumers believe that contaminated food could cause life-threatening risks for people, they are willing to pay up to 102% more than the current market price for hormone-free and drug-free pork. The factor representing consumers' trust in food safety influences their WTP for traceability and clean water attributes. Moreover, consumer's self-health evaluation influenced their WTP for pork traceability. Almost all consumers prefer the convenience of being able to purchase vegetables and pork nearby.

Adapting to changes in water availability is becoming an increasingly important environmental management objective in many regions around the world. One way for cities to conserve water is to enhance drought-resistant vegetation cover. This revegetation practice can take place on many types of land, including road-side verges (also known as nature strips or boulevards), which, in Western Australia, are publicly owned but managed privately by residents of adjoining properties. As preferences for alternative verge groundcovers are not well understood, designing solutions that help achieve environmental goals and satisfy communities is a challenge. We survey community members in Perth, Western Australia, and find that peoples’ preferences for verge landscape design are largely bimodal, and can be classified under two dominant groups of people: those who prefer native vegetation, which requires little irrigation, and those who prefer watered grass. Neighbourhood norms prevail in their rankings, where individuals whose neighbours have planted water-conserving native vegetation gardens on their verges are also more likely to prefer ecological landscape designs. Increasing the extent of gardens that feature water-conserving native plants in high-profile public areas may further increase community acceptance of low water-use groundcovers, and may assist in driving changes in landscape management practices towards having more ecological landscape designs on verges, and beyond.

Rangelands, covering half of the global land area, are critically degraded by unsustainable use and climate change. Despite their extensive presence, global assessments of rangeland condition and sustainability are limited. Here we introduce a novel analytical approach that combines satellite big data and statistical modeling to quantify the likelihood of changes in rangeland conditions. These probabilities are then used to assess the effectiveness of management interventions targeting rangeland sustainability. This approach holds global potential, as demonstrated in Mongolia, where the shift to a capitalist economy has led to increased livestock numbers and grazing intensity. From 1986 to 2020, heavy grazing caused a marked decline in Mongolia's rangeland condition. Our evaluation of diverse management strategies, corroborated by local ground observations, further substantiates our approach. Leveraging globally available yet locally detailed satellite data, our proposed condition tracking approach provides a rapid, cost-effective tool for sustainable rangeland management. Rangelands in Mongolia suffered a marked decline in grazing conditions between 1986 and 2020, according to an approach which combines satellite big data with statistical modeling to remotely assess rangeland sustainability and management strategies

In 2023, the Australian Government issued similar to 250,000 soil carbon credits following a measurement period characterised by high rainfall (Decile 10). The inferred soil organic carbon (SOC) sequestration rates during this period, ranging from similar to 2 to 8 t C ha-(1) yr-(1), significantly exceed rates reported in Australian scientific studies (similar to 0.1 to 1.2 t C ha-(1) yr-(1)). Our analysis, incorporating SOC and biomass measurements alongside remote sensing of NDVI, reveals that these SOC gains were largely attributable to above-average rainfall rather than project interventions. Moreover, these gains were not sustained when rainfall returned to average levels, raising concerns about the durability of credited sequestration and its additionality beyond natural climatic variability. Our findings demonstrate that current safeguards within the Soil Carbon Method-such as withholding 25% of credits during the first measurement period-are likely insufficient to account for climatic variability. To strengthen the integrity of the carbon crediting system, we recommend extending the minimum measurement period for credit issuance to at least five years. Additionally, governments should establish science-based 'reasonable bounds' for expected long-term SOC gains from management practices to sense-check reported outcomes. These measures will ensure that credited SOC sequestration is more closely tied to management-driven outcomes rather than short-term climate-driven fluctuations.

American Journal of Agricultural EconomicsVolume 106, Issue 2 p. 457-458 AAEA Fellows David Pannell David Pannell, David PannellSearch for more papers by this author David Pannell, David PannellSearch for more papers by this author First published: 23 January 2024 https://doi.org/10.1111/ajae.12451Read the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onEmailFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat No abstract is available for this article. Volume106, Issue2March 2024Pages 457-458 RelatedInformation

Increasing the area of drought-tolerant native vegetation in urban parks is a potential strategy to adapt to growing water scarcity under climate change. With a case study in Perth, Australia, we undertake benefit-cost analyses to understand the potential impacts of modifying urban park landscape designs away from conventions dominated by watered grass towards alternatives with more native vegetation. Considering the costs of establishing and maintaining alternative designs alone, we find that local governments can save money by reducing the extent of watered grass cover in parks. Incorporating nonmarket benefits into the analyses provides evidence of positive community net benefits from making changes to conventional park designs. We show that an alternative park design featuring a mix of 60% native vegetation and 40% watered grass delivers the highest net benefits for both new park development and retrofits to existing parks. These findings suggest it is time to rethink urban park design norms in Australia to better align landscaping choices with community preferences under a changing climate.

Acacia plantations are a significant forestry resource in Viet Nam, with the majority of the area under smallholder ownership, typically with 1–5 ha per household. Currently most acacias are grown in short rotations and sold for export as woodchips. Short rotation plantations suit smallholder farmers as they can receive a return relatively quickly (within 4–5 years). However the country has a high reliance on imports of sawlogs, some of which could be substituted by growing acacias to sawlog size on longer (5–10 year) rotations. Thus the Vietnamese government has developed a strategy to encourage smallholder acacia farmers to convert to sawlog production from their acacia estate. Sawlog production could potentially give greater returns to growers but also requires enhanced silvicultural management, greater tolerance of risk and longer times for return on investment. We explored smallholder farmers' preferences for support programs if they are to adopt longer rotation plantations in two contrasting provinces: Thua Thien Hue in Central Viet Nam and Hoa Binh in North Viet Nam. We found that farmers are happy to embrace longer rotations if they could source finance, are able to handle larger sized logs and if they could see others also growing longer rotations. We also explored the effects of contrasting training styles on adoption of best management practices (BMPs) – either standard top-down extension training, or a more collaborative active-learning extension training approach. We found that a collaborative, active-learning approach led to greater adoption of BMPs, but also that the traditional approach to extension was almost as effective. There is significant demand amongst the growers to improve their silvicultural management, and they are very responsive to training and knowledge circulation amongst the community. Factors influencing farmers' adoption of acacia BMPs were also identified and they included intrinsic factors (such as farmers' goals and inspirations), extrinsic factors (such as farm location and satisfaction with acacias) as well as extension. Extrinsic factors (21.5%), intrinsic factors (7.0%) and extension (5.5%) explained a total of 34% of the variation in adoption behaviour at 9 months following training. Farmers in the study demonstrated that they had the capacity, ability and willingness to uptake BMPs but to encourage greater adoption, extension training should be complemented with other support incentives such as seedlings or fertiliser subsidies to bridge the financial gap that some poorer farmers face. Extending acacia rotations to 7 years carries additional risks to farmers and many farmers would require financial assistance to facilitate acceptance of these risks.

Nitrogen sourced from agricultural fertilizers is a major contributor to water pollution. Despite policies targeting a range of farming practice changes, the goal of substantially reducing nitrogen losses from farms remains elusive. We highlight three empirical results from production economics that appear to provide opportunities for behavioral science to contribute to reducing nitrogen pollution. First, many farmers apply more nitrogen than required to maximize expected profits or utility. Second, contrary to the perceptions of some farmers and farm advisers, nitrogen fertilizer is a risk-increasing input. Third, the relationship between fertilizer rate and profit is flat near the optimum, meaning that farmers can reduce fertilizer usage to some extent at minimal private cost. We discuss a variety of ways in which behavioral science, likely complemented with new market instruments and technological innovations, could exploit these insights to generate efficient policy options.

With climate change, it is becoming more challenging for water-limited cities to sustain historic watering levels in urban parks, leading park managers to consider changes to park designs. However, the extent to which people value parks that deviate from conventional designs featuring primarily irrigated lawn remains uncertain. We use a choice experiment to assess public preferences for different park designs in Perth, Australia. With a scale-adjusted latent class model, we identify optimal groundcover compositions for four preference classes. We find that while having some watered grass in urban parks is important, the public are also accepting of non-irrigated alternatives. Incorporating at least 40% native vegetation groundcover can both increase the utility the public derives from parks and conserve water. Park managers also have a high degree of flexibility in designing parks that vary from the optimal groundcover composition but that still deliver near-optimal benefits to communities.

Increasing native vegetation cover on verges, which are underutilized urban lands, can help build resilient cities under urban densification and climate change. As these areas are sizeable, many cities have programs aimed at encouraging ecologically beneficial landscape designs on verges, which are publicly owned but privately managed lands located on the edge of private properties. However, adoption rates of these programs remain low. Using choice experiments, we assess preferences for a range of financial, labour, and technical attributes of verge conversion programs. Overall, we find that offering financial assistance and free or discounted native plant seedlings are likely to be the most effective means of encouraging native garden adoption on verges. We also show that homeowners are influenced by their neighbours’ decisions to adopt ecological landscape designs. Through latent class analysis, we find that different program components have different impacts on adoption rates for different segments of the population. Together, our results suggest governments can increase adoption of native gardens in urban areas through a variety of processes, including financial and non-financial supports, as well as efforts focused on enhancing early adoption to harness effects of social norms. Using a variety of programs or strategies is likely to be most effective, since different segments of the population will respond to different programs.