Scaling up pro-environmental agricultural practice using agglomeration payments: Proof of concept from an agent-based model

Abstract

18 19Rates of adoption of pro-environmental practices in agriculture in many parts of the world are 20 low. In some cases, this is attributable to the private costs borne by farmers to adopt these 21 practices, often well in advance of any benefits -public or private -that they may bring.

Informing decisions in agent-based models — A mobile update

“…Once again, these approaches are only an improvement to the extent that respondents are capable of understanding the tasks given to them, and willing to give the task similar consideration to real-world decisions. Training sessions may still be important in some cases, ground-truthing of reported values in others, and narrowing in on appropriate incentives (such as mobile data or airtime; Bell et al, 2016a;Rajput et al, 2012) for sustained engagement. Busse and Fuchs (2015) find no loss of validity in moving to mobile-phone based surveys from the decades-old approach of landline-based phone surveys, but even this approach is very new, let alone the next step into software-based survey and task platforms.…”

“…In many cases this is because the models are expressly exploratory, presenting proof of concept or demonstrating a qualitative outcome across a range of parameterizations (e.g., Bell et al, 2016a;Wise and Crooks, 2012;Zavalloni et al, 2015). In other cases it may be because the empirical data of interest is not easily collected or otherwise available e one recurring example in this category are data on the relative weights or utilities that individuals might place on different aspects of their livelihoods, such as consumption versus leisure (Agrawal et al, 2013), or environmental amenities versus housing costs (Magliocca et al, 2014).…”

“…The World Bank recently published a guide to conducting surveys via mobile phones in rural areas (Dabalen et al, 2016), but focused on interactive voice systems rather than internet or application-based interactions. Anticipating a near future in which smartphones are common in rural areas in the developing world, several researchers have developed custom applications based on the open source Android Open Data Kit (ODK) platform through which participants can respond to tasks on demand (e.g., Bell et al, 2016a;Enenkel et al, 2015). For Rebaudo and Dangles (2011), who drew on survey data to examine the spread of knowledge regarding integrated pest management, tasks could include spatially-resolved reporting of an observed insect predatorprey interaction, observed pest damage, interactions with neighbors regarding pests or spraying, or repeated choice tasks that allow measurement of shifts in participants' inclination to spray their fields.…”

“…Electronic gift cards or coupons are simple options that require little infrastructure on the part of the researcher; more tailored programs (such as offering discounts on remittance fees in exchange for information regarding the decision to send a remittance) are possible through investment in partnerships with service providers. For example Bell et al (2016a) provide compensation to farmers in Bangladesh for survey task completion in the form of airtime and mobile data micropayments through a partnership with mobile provider Banglalink, channeling survey resources into the positive development externality of improved rural access to mobile internet.…”

Policies for Forest Landscape Management A Conceptual Approach with an Empirical Application for Swedish Conditions

“…Few studies address policy analysis in this area and little is known about financial effects of different policy approaches for forest owners (Parkhurst et al 2002;Parkhurst and Shogren 2007;Bell et al 2016). …”