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’ 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.
Citation
Kuhfuss , L , Preget , R , Thoyer , S , Hanley , N , Le Coent , P & Desole , M 2016 , ' Nudges, social norms and permanence in agri-environmental schemes ' Land Economics , vol 92 , no. 4 , pp. 641-655 . DOI: 10.3368/le.92.4.641
Publication
Land Economics
Status
Peer reviewed
ISSN
0023-7639Type
Journal article
Rights
© 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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