Nudges, Social Norms, and Permanence in Agri-environmental Schemes

Kühfuss, Laure; Préget, Raphaële; Thoyer, Sophie; Hanley, Nick; Coënt, Philippe Le; Désolé, Mathieu

doi:10.3368/le.92.4.641

Cited by 121 publications

(115 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…Similar designs have been used to experimentally test farmer engagement in conservation practices (Kuhfuss et al, 2016;Wallander, Ferraro, & Higgins, 2017), including using a request for information as the dependent variable (Andrews, Clawson, Gramig, & Raymond, 2013). Those who checked "YES" also provided an email address or phone number to indicate how they would like to be contacted.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Social influence and forest habitat conservation: Experimental evidence from Vermont's maple producers

Byerly

D’Amato

Hagenbuch

et al. 2019

Conservat Sci and Prac

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Working landscapes can provide biodiversity and ecosystem services. Many voluntary conservation programs ask those who manage working lands-farmers, ranchers, and forest landowners-to steward their resources in ways that maintain or increase these benefits. While research on landowners suggests the importance of social influence in management decisions, few studies have tested whether providing information about the behavior and opinions of others affects decisions related to private land and forest management, stewardship, or conservation. Using a randomized controlled trial design, we mailed three versions of a solicitation letter for a bird habitat conservation program to 967 individuals who manage forests to produce maple syrup. Maple producers who were messaged about recognition for participation were as likely to ask for more information about the program as those who received only a control message that described the program. Providing information about the participation of others had a negative effect on the number of producers requesting information compared to the control. These results highlight the importance of context in using social influence to change land manager behavior. Findings are relevant to conservation researchers and practitioners, offering applications of behavioral science to improve biodiversity and ecosystem service outcomes on private lands. K E Y W O R D Sbehavioral science, biodiversity conservation, field experiment, forest management, nudge, private lands, social influence, working landscapes

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Social influence and forest habitat conservation: Experimental evidence from Vermont's maple producers

Byerly

D’Amato

Hagenbuch

et al. 2019

Conservat Sci and Prac

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show abstract

“…While financial interests are not the primary consideration for every landowner, the financial costs and benefits of conservation practices remain a significant factor in landowner decision‐making (e.g., Kuhfuss et al . ; Dunn et al . ).…”

Section: Pathways To Persistencementioning

confidence: 99%

“…). This reevaluation process could explain Kuhfuss et al .’s () finding that French farmers who had experienced technical difficulties during conservation practice implementation had 50% lower persistence intentions.…”

Section: Pathways To Persistencementioning

confidence: 99%

“…These programs generally have a fixed term (e.g., 1–20 years) (Kuhfuss et al . ), although the contracts may be extended, depending on factors such as landowner preference, funding availability, and program policies. Financial incentives may be monetary (e.g., cash payments), nonmonetary (e.g., tax credits, technical assistance), or cost share agreements with landowners (Doremus ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Private Landowner Conservation Behavior Following Participation in Voluntary Incentive Programs: Recommendations to Facilitate Behavioral Persistence

Dayer

Lutter

Sesser

et al. 2017

CONSERVATION LETTERS

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Voluntary incentive programs are a keystone policy tool for increasing private landowner conservation behavior. Although landowner participation in conservation incentive programs is well studied, limited empirical research has focused on whether and why landowners continue to conduct conservation practices on their land after payments end, which we term persistence. The assumption is that a landowner who participates in an incentive program will likely continue the conservation practice after the payments end. This assumption fits with conservation policies that limit the number of years or times a landowner can receive payments for a given practice. If persistence occurs, it would provide cost-effective outcomes from conservation funding investments. However, there is little published information to support persistence. Based on the narrow body of research on persistence of landowner conservation behavior, as well as persistence research in other fields, we identified five pathways that may support persistence outcomes and insights for when persistence could be expected. We then provide recommendations for policy, practice, and research. With billions of dollars invested annually in programs to incentivize landowners to take conservation action, an empirical examination of landowner conservation behavior persistence is sorely needed for shaping more effective incentive programs and policies.

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“…There are limitations to this approach and there is a requirement for further research into more complex settings, especially those relating to repeated contracting and end-of-contact problems (Kuhfuss et al, 2015) and contracting with groups of agents (Herzfeld and Jongeneel, 2012). …”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Should We Pay for Ecosystem Service Outputs, Inputs or Both?

White

Hanley

2016

Environ Resource Econ

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Nudges, Social Norms, and Permanence in Agri-environmental Schemes

Abstract: The permanence of land management practices adopted under Agri-environmental

Cited by 121 publications

References 34 publications

Social influence and forest habitat conservation: Experimental evidence from Vermont's maple producers

Social influence and forest habitat conservation: Experimental evidence from Vermont's maple producers

Private Landowner Conservation Behavior Following Participation in Voluntary Incentive Programs: Recommendations to Facilitate Behavioral Persistence

Should We Pay for Ecosystem Service Outputs, Inputs or Both?

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