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Public participation and willingness to cooperate in common-pool resource management: A field experiment with fishing communities in Brazil

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  • Cavalcanti, Carina
  • Schläpfer, Felix
  • Schmid, Bernhard

Abstract

The primary evidence about the factors determining successful self-governance of common-pool resources (CPR) has come from case studies. More recently, this observational evidence has been complemented by insights from economic experiments. Here we advance a third approach in which the role of local deliberation about the management of a fishery resource is investigated in a field experiment. Using three control and three treatment communities in a freshwater fishery, we tested whether participation in developing specific measures for community-based sustainable CPR management increased the willingness to contribute to the implementation of these measures. Each community was also exposed to information about their community leaders' advice about the proposed measures. Both participation and leader advice affected the willingness of participants to contribute in one of three proposed measures. However, the strongest influence on individual willingness to contribute was exerted by the individual beliefs about the cooperation of others in CPR management.

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  • Cavalcanti, Carina & Schläpfer, Felix & Schmid, Bernhard, 2010. "Public participation and willingness to cooperate in common-pool resource management: A field experiment with fishing communities in Brazil," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(3), pages 613-622, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecolec:v:69:y:2010:i:3:p:613-622
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    3. Röttgers, Dirk, 2016. "Conditional cooperation, context and why strong rules work — A Namibian common-pool resource experiment," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 129(C), pages 21-31.
    4. Schories, Fanny E., 2017. "Institutional Choice and Cooperation in Representative Democracies: An Experimental Approach," ILE Working Paper Series 9, University of Hamburg, Institute of Law and Economics.
    5. Ortiz-Riomalo, Juan Felipe & Koessler, Ann-Kathrin & Engel, Stefanie, 2023. "The impact of participatory interventions on pro-social behaviour in environmental and natural resource management Evidence from the lab and the field," EconStor Open Access Book Chapters, in: Behavioural Economics and the Environment: A Research Companion, pages 160-181, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics.
    6. Cavalcanti, Carina & Leibbrandt, Andreas, 2025. "Die hard: Exploring the characteristics of resource users who persist in the tragedy of the commons," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 131(C).
    7. Efthymia Kyriakopoulou & Anastasios Xepapadeas, 2021. "Natural Resource Management: A Network Perspective," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 80(2), pages 221-256, October.
    8. Fanny E. Schories, 2022. "The Influence of Indirect Democracy and Leadership Choice on Cooperation," Experimental Economics, Springer;Economic Science Association, vol. 25(4), pages 1173-1201, September.
    9. Nguyen Thi Quynh, Chi & Schilizzi, Steven & Hailu, Atakelty & Iftekhar, Sayed, 2020. "Vietnam’s Territorial Use Rights for Fisheries: How do they perform against Ostrom’s institutional design principles?," World Development Perspectives, Elsevier, vol. 17(C).
    10. Carina Cavalcanti & Andreas Leibbrandt, 2017. "A glance into the willingness to reduce overfishing: Field evidence from a fishnet exchange program," Monash Economics Working Papers 09-17, Monash University, Department of Economics.
    11. Carina Cavalcanti, 2020. "On the Determinants of Denouncing Illegal Fishing: A Field Study in Artisanal Fishing Communities," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 77(1), pages 217-228, September.
    12. Raffaele Scuderi & Giuseppe Tesoriere & Giulio Pedrini, 2023. "Social capital and women's willingness to pay for safe water access: Evidence from African rural areas," South African Journal of Economics, Economic Society of South Africa, vol. 91(2), pages 161-185, June.
    13. Cavalcanti, Carina & Engel, Stefanie & Leibbrandt, Andreas, 2013. "Social integration, participation, and community resource management," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 65(2), pages 262-276.
    14. Carina Cavalcanti & Andreas Leibbrandt, 2017. "Impulsivity, Voluntary Cooperation, and Denunciation among Fishermen," Monash Economics Working Papers 10-17, Monash University, Department of Economics.
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