Impact of Risk and Uncertainty in the Provision of Local and Global Environmental Goods : An Experimental Analysis

Uncertainties and risks in the decision making process are abundant in the area of environmental economics, irrespective of whether the problems being discussed are local or global. This paper uses laboratory evidence from public goods games to examine how in payoff equivalent situations, decision makers contribute towards local or global environmental goods, in the presence of risk and uncertainties in the provision of these goods. We use a within subject design that allows for comparisons across seven different treatments in which subjects are exposed to internal (strategic) and external (environmental) risk and uncertainty. Our results show that the location of the risk and uncertainty matters, with subjects moving away from the external uncertainty in favor of internal uncertainty, when that uncertainty is associated with the local environmental good. When the uncertainty relates to the global environmental good, subjects face both external and internal uncertainty on the same good leading to a significant drop in contributions. We find that in the presence of risk and uncertainty subjects use feedback from other members of their group when deciding about future contributions. The reward for research and development and innovation is captured in the experimental design by the increased probability of obtaining the desired outcome in the endogenous probability treatment. Subjects seem to understand this incentive and contribute more towards global goods in this treatment.Experiments, Public Goods, Local and Global Environmental Problems, Risk, Uncertainty.

Benefits, challenges, social learning and controversies around Local Food Systems

Objectives: Our WG touches upon three main elements among the themes of the conference: (1) innovation, (2) social justice and (3) knowledge production. Innovative local food systems and alternative food networks, approached from a collaborative and participatory angle, bring about a cultural shift by associating prosumers through a renewed form of trust, reciprocity and community, thus reinforcing social and ecological justice. At the same time, such heterodox actors in the transition to more sustainable food systems create new forms of knowledge, that are contested, co-constructed and potentially conflictual – along with enabling or disabling policymaking and, often, in dialogue with research. Our main objective is in this topic to start the process of creating an edited special issue of a peer reviewed journal (Sociologia Ruralis, Studies of Agricultural Economics or similar) should raise from this WG. We invite researchers working in the area of (local) food systems, alternative food networks, short food supply chains and related topics (rural tourism, community supported agriculture, etc.). We consider both the benefits and possible conflicts/problems in the connected socio-economic, cultural and environmental processes and welcome theoretical papers and case studies, too. Topic: By welcoming case studies from all geographical areas, in a comparative manner, this Working Group’s aim is to address different understandings and dynamics happening within and around different types of Local Food Systems (LFS). Alternative food networks, local food systems and short food supply chains have long been viewed as a sustainable, green way of raising the value added and creating opportunities for sur/re-vival of rural economy and society. They induce many benefits in terms of environmental impact, cultural exemplification, ethical entrepreneurship, social justice or rural development. Conceptually, LFS can be understood as ‘local food for local people’, as for example in the Slow Food or the community supported agriculture (CSA) movements. They are then associated with low food miles, environmental protection (Jones 2002), enhanced social networks and revitalised local communities (Fenstra 1997). From a local economic development perspective, in particular when LFS produce high quality products, they can equally be considered as ‘local food for non-local people’, either transported to urban centres, or attracting flows of tourists into rural areas. Here LFS can still enhance local businesses, economic and rural development, yet social and environmental benefits (Guthman 2004) of such foodstuffs, marketed with the added value of environmental and social responsibility, are more difficult to trace. Therefore, besides benefits, we would also like to analyse potential dissonances, that the distinction between local or extra-local target groups help to identify – for instance: • established, certified organic producers might criticize non-certified yet organically producing CSAs as fragmenting an already minority market or showing a lack of solidarity by not contributing to organic labels; • when LFS end up producing high quality, expensive products, a dynamic of social exclusion might occur, favoring the wealthy; • enhanced local production, tourism, and visitor pressure can cause social, economic, and environmental degradation, multiplier effects do not always occur to build more businesses and sustain social and economic capital; • innovative alternative food networks tend to struggle with territorial competition over land and resources, but if they rely on external investments, they might additionally be confronted – more insidiously – with the risk of co-option by neoliberal corporate agendas. We welcome analyses focusing on negotiations and struggles among actors in a multifaceted foodscape, where some block and some enhance transitions. Viewing the relationships, interconnectedness and agency of niche innovations, local and non-local appropriations as well regime hegemonies opens up the theoretical perspective of contested knowledge claims. We look for questions and answers including: • How are dynamics of “knowing and growing food in a contested arena” (Goodman, DuPuis, Goodman, 2014) negotiated – sometimes in a mutually enhancing and locally beneficial way, sometimes in more conflictual ways? • What are the local and extra-local stakeholders’ (producers, intermediaries, customers, tourists) different and often conflicting interests and responsibilities in LFS? • What can we learn from the tensions and local problems of LFS in order to support relevant policies to solve current controversies within the sector? • How can rural sociologists use their knowledge and influence to support local rural stakeholders of LFS

The local food system in the ‘genius loci’ – the role of food, local products and short food chains in rural tourism

This article investigates the roles that locally produced, processed and marketed food (Local Food System) play in rural tourism and local socio-economic development. It is the first account of a 3 years’ research project (LO-KÁLI) exploring a successful Hungarian rural tourism destination, investigating both the demand side (what attracts tourists to pay for premium products/services); and the supply side (what attitudes, norms, values keep producers in their business). We contrast the externally perceived image (‘genius loci’) of the region (‘Hungarian Provence’, together with its cultural landscape, gastronomy, and social and environmental sustainability) with the impacts of the current development process on the environment and the general wellbeing of the local economy and society in reality. This article presents some of the theories and the analytical framework underpinning our project, alongside preliminary results on how the elements contributing to tourist attraction are perceived by locals and by visitors to the region

Kistermelői sikerek a COVID-19 járvány első hullámában: a személyesség szerepe az értékesítésben = Successful small-scale agricultural producers during the first wave of COVID-19 in Hungary: the role of private spaces in sales

A tanulmány a koronavírus-járvány első hullámának hatását vizsgálja a magyar kistermelők értékesítéseire és marketingcsatorna-használatára. A szerzők a kapcsolatok jellege alapján az értékesítési csatornákat három típusba sorolják. A kijárási korlátozás alatt főleg a személytelen (online) csatornák működtek, vagy épp ellenkezőleg, a nagyon személyesek, amelyek keretében a kistermelők és a fogyasztók találkozására egyikük privát életterében (többnyire otthonában) került sor. Egy 136 kistermelővel végzett kérdőíves felmérés eredményei szerint a kistermelők 60 százaléka könyvelhetett el gazdasági veszteséget, míg 10 százalékuk növelte az eladásait. A sikeres kistermelők jellemzően a friss gyümölcs- és zöldségágazatban tevékenykedtek, értékesítési stratégiájukat gyorsan átalakították, és nyitottak voltak az online tér nyújtotta lehetőségekre. Több értékesítési csatorna párhuzamos használata, valamint a vásárlókkal kialakított kapcsolatok ápolása a járvány kitörése előtt növelte az eredményesség későbbi esélyét

Impact of risk and uncertainty in the provision of local and global environmental goods: an experimental analysis

RESEARCH PAPER NUMBER 956, ISSN 0819-2642, ISBN 0 7340 2613 7Uncertainties and risks in the decision making process are abundant in the area ofenvironmental economics, irrespective of whether the problems being discussed are local orglobal. This paper uses laboratory evidence from public goods games to examine how inpayoff equivalent situations, decision makers contribute towards local or globalenvironmental goods, in the presence of risk and uncertainties in the provision of these goods.We use a within subject design that allows for comparisons across seven different treatmentsin which subjects are exposed to internal (strategic) and external (environmental) risk anduncertainty. Our results show that the location of the risk and uncertainty matters, withsubjects moving away from the external uncertainty in favor of internal uncertainty, whenthat uncertainty is associated with the local environmental good. When the uncertainty relatesto the global environmental good, subjects face both external and internal uncertainty on thesame good leading to a significant drop in contributions. We find that in the presence of riskand uncertainty subjects use feedback from other members of their group when decidingabout future contributions. The reward for research and development and innovation iscaptured in the experimental design by the increased probability of obtaining the desiredoutcome in the endogenous probability treatment. Subjects seem to understand this incentiveand contribute more towards global goods in this treatment

The implications of risk and uncertainty aversion in public goods games

This paper examines how individuals behave in situations of risk and uncertainty in public and private goods context. It finds that subjects are willing to pay a much higher amount to find out information relating to the probabilities of providing the private good than information relating to the public good even if this information has greater consequences for the individual in he public goods context. It finds strong support for the free-rider hypothesis and extend it to cases when risk and uncertainty are present. The paper concludes that subjects treat risks and uncertainties associated with the provision of private good and public good differently