The Effect of Varying the Causes of Environmental Problems on Stated WTP Values: Evidence from a Field Study

Standard applications of utility theory assume that utility depends solely on outcomes and not on causes. This study uses a field experiment conducted in the Netherlands to determine if alternative causes of an environmental problem affect willingness to pay to ameliorate it. We find evidence supporting the hypothesis that people are willing to pay significantly more to correct problems caused by humans than by nature (the ""outrage effect""), but find no support for the hypothesis that ""moral responsibility"" matters. We also find support for the hypothesis that stated willingness to pay values obtained via ""cheap talk"" and ""consequential"" treatments are lower than without inclusion of these protocols.Field experiment, endangered species, non-market valuation

Technological change and tropical deforestation: A perspective at the household level

We analyse the effects of technological change in agriculture on forest clearing by households in developing countries. The possible effects are found to be many and diverse, depending on the type of change and the institutional context. We conclude that agricultural intensification is certainly not the panacea that some believe it to b

From personalized exchange towards anonymous trade: A field experiment on the workings of the invisible hand

The experimental literature has shown the tendency for experimental trading markets to converge to neoclassical predictions. Yet, the extent to which theory explains the equilibrating forces in markets remains under-researched, especially in the developing world. We set up a laboratory in 94 villages in rural Sierra Leone to mimic a real market. In this laboratory market, average efficiency of the within-village treatment is somewhat lower than predicted by theory (and observed in different contexts), and markets do not fully converge to theoretical predictions across rounds of trading. We also find that trading with strangers reduces efficiency, and that anonymized trade within the village does not affect efficiency. This points to the importance of behavioral norms for trade. Intra-village social relationships or hierarchies, instead, appear less important as determinants of trade. This is confirmed by analysis of the trader-level data, showing that individual earnings in the experiment do not vary with one’s status or position in local networks.We thank N.W.O. 452-04-333, N.W.O. 451-14-001 and Cambridge Conservation Initiative (CCI 05/101005) for financial support.This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Elsevier via https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jebo.2016.10.01

Unconditional Transfers and Tropical Forest Conservation: Evidence from a Randomized Control Trial in Sierra Leone

Unconditional conservation payments are increasingly used by conservation non-governmental organizations to further their environmental objectives. One key objective in many conservation projects that use such unconditional payments schemes is the protection of tropical forest ecosystems in buffer zone areas around protected parks where the scope of instating mandatory restrictions is more limited. We use a randomized controlled trial to evaluate the impact of unconditional livelihood payments to local communities on land use outside a protected area – the Gola Rainforest National Park – which is a biodiversity hotspot on the border of Sierra Leone and Liberia. High resolution RapidEye satellite imagery from before and after the intervention was used to determine land use changes in treated and control villages. We find support for the hypothesis that unconditional payments, in this setting, increase land clearance in the short run. The study constitutes one of the first attempts to use evidence from a randomized control trial to evaluate the efficacy of conservation payments and provides insights for further research.Cambridge Conservation Initiative International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (grant # TW1.1042) NWO (#45-14-001 and #451-14-001

Chief for a Day: Elite Capture and Management Performance in a Field Experiment in Sierra Leone

We use a field experiment in Sierra Leone to examine how the identity of the manager influences rent seeking and performance in participatory development projects. Specifically, we vary the composition of a committee responsible for implementing a development project—local elites or randomly selected villagers. The design is unique in that it permits us to explore the effectiveness of two alternative local governance modalities and the extent of elite capture in community projects. We find little evidence that local elites capture project resources. We do observe they are better managers of development projects. Improved performance covaries with a proxy for power of the local chief.This work was supported by the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research [N.W.O. Grants 453-10-001 and 45-14-001], the Cambridge Humanities Research Grants Scheme, the Cambridge Conservation Initiative, and the Economic and Social Research Council [Grant ES/J017620/1]

Studying Paths of Participation in Viral Diffusion Process

Authors propose a conceptual model of participation in viral diffusion process composed of four stages: awareness, infection, engagement and action. To verify the model it has been applied and studied in the virtual social chat environment settings. The study investigates the behavioral paths of actions that reflect the stages of participation in the diffusion and presents shortcuts, that lead to the final action, i.e. the attendance in a virtual event. The results show that the participation in each stage of the process increases the probability of reaching the final action. Nevertheless, the majority of users involved in the virtual event did not go through each stage of the process but followed the shortcuts. That suggests that the viral diffusion process is not necessarily a linear sequence of human actions but rather a dynamic system.Comment: In proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Social Informatics, SocInfo 201

Does bundling crop insurance with certified seeds crowd-in investments? Experimental evidence from Kenya

We use a randomised experiment in Kenya to analyse how smallholder farmers respond to receiving a free hybrid crop insurance product, conditional on purchasing certified seeds. We find that farmers increase effort—increasing total investments and taking more land in production. In addition to adopting more certified seeds, they also invest more in complementary inputs such as fertilizer and hired-in farm-machinery and non-farm labour. We find limited evidence of a change in farming intensity. For example, there is no evidence of ‘crowding-out’ of effort or inputs on a per-hectare basis, even if the indemnity-based component of the insurance product potentially gives rise to asymmetric information problems (moral hazard). We also document that ex post willingness to pay for the insurance product has increased for the treatment group. This suggests that learning about the benefits of (subsidized) insurance outweighs any anchoring effects on the zero price during the pilot study

Myocardial blood flow under general anaesthesia with sevoflurane in type 2 diabetic patients: a pilot study

BACKGROUND: In type 2 diabetic patients, cardiac events in the perioperative period may be associated with diminished myocardial vasomotor function and endothelial dysfunction. The influence of sevoflurane anaesthesia on myocardial endothelial dysfunction in type 2 diabetic mellitus is investigated in this pilot study. METHODS: Six males with type 2 diabetes mellitus and eight healthy controls were included. Using myocardial contrast echocardiography, myocardial blood flow (MBF) was measured at rest, during adenosine-induced hyperaemia (endothelium-independent vasodilation) and after sympathetic stimulation by the cold pressor test (endothelium-dependent vasodilation). Measurements were performed before and after induction of sevoflurane anaesthesia. RESULTS: Sevoflurane anaesthesia decreased resting MBF in diabetics but not in controls (P = 0.03), while baseline MBF did not differ between diabetics and controls. Without anaesthesia, adenosine-induced hyperaemia increased MBF in both groups compared to resting values. Adenosine combined with sevoflurane resulted in a lower hyperaemic MBF in both groups compared to no anaesthesia. Differences in MBF in response to adenosine before and after sevoflurane administration were larger in diabetic patients, however not statistically significant in this pilot group (P = 0.08). Myocardial blood flow parameters after the cold pressor test were not different between groups. CONCLUSION: These pilot data in type 2 diabetic patients show that sevoflurane anaesthesia decreases resting myocardial blood flow compared to healthy controls. Further, we observed a trend towards a lower endothelium-independent vasodilation capacity in diabetic patients under sevoflurane anaesthesia. Endothelium-dependent vasodilation was not affected by sevoflurane in diabetic patients. These data provide preliminary insight into myocardial responses in type 2 diabetic patients under general anaesthesia. TRIAL REGISTRATION: http://www.clinicialtrials.gov, NCT0086680