Nudges, social norms and permanence in agri-environmental schemes

Laure Kuhfuss; Raphaele Preget; Sophie Thoyer; Nick Hanley; Philippe Le Coent; Mathieu Desole

doi:10.3368/le.92.4.641

Nudges, social norms and permanence in agri-environmental schemes

Laure Kuhfuss^*, Raphaele Preget, Sophie Thoyer, Nick Hanley, Philippe Le Coent, Mathieu Desole

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

The permanence of land management practices adopted under Agri-environmental schemes (AES) is often questioned. This paper investigates the drivers of farmers’ decision as to whether to maintain “pro-environment” practices beyond the duration of a contract, and in particular the effect of social norms. Our results, based on the stated intentions of 395 French farmers, show that both pecuniary and non-pecuniary motivations drive farmers’ decision, which is also significantly influenced by information about a social norm. Therefore “nudging” farmers, by conveying information to them on other farmers’ pro-environmental practices, appears as a means of maintaining the long-run benefits of AES.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	641-655
Number of pages	15
Journal	Land Economics
Volume	92
Issue number	4
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.3368/le.92.4.641
Publication status	Published - 1 Nov 2016

Keywords

CONDITIONAL COOPERATION
ECOSYSTEM SERVICES
PAYMENTS
INFORMATION
CHALLENGES
ECONOMICS
EFFICACY
BEHAVIOR
POLICY
UK

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Hanley_2016_LE_SocialNorms_AAM
© 2016 by the Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System. This work has been made available online with permission from the publisher. This is the author created, accepted version manuscript following peer review and may differ slightly from the final published version. The final published version of this work is available at: https://doi.org/10.3368/le.92.4.641
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title = "Nudges, social norms and permanence in agri-environmental schemes",

abstract = "The permanence of land management practices adopted under Agri-environmental schemes (AES) is often questioned. This paper investigates the drivers of farmers{\textquoteright} decision as to whether to maintain “pro-environment” practices beyond the duration of a contract, and in particular the effect of social norms. Our results, based on the stated intentions of 395 French farmers, show that both pecuniary and non-pecuniary motivations drive farmers{\textquoteright} decision, which is also significantly influenced by information about a social norm. Therefore “nudging” farmers, by conveying information to them on other farmers{\textquoteright} pro-environmental practices, appears as a means of maintaining the long-run benefits of AES.",

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KW - EFFICACY

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Nudges, social norms and permanence in agri-environmental schemes

Abstract

Keywords

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