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Crowdfunding Conservation (and Other Public Goods)

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Listed:
  • Erik Ansink
  • Mark Koetse
  • Jetske Bouma
  • Dominic Hauck
  • Daan van Soest

Abstract

Crowdfunding has become an increasingly popular means to fund the provision of public goods and especially of nature conservation projects. We implement a lab-in-the-field experiment by setting up a web-based user interface, very similar to actual crowdfunding platforms, to test whether coordination mechanisms, like seed money and decoy projects, can increase the effectiveness of crowdfunding campaigns if multiple public goods projects are eligible for funding. We find some of our treatments to affect coordination especially via early contributions, but not always in an intuitive way. Our results are confirmed in a follow-up experiment with actual nature conservation projects.

Suggested Citation

  • Erik Ansink & Mark Koetse & Jetske Bouma & Dominic Hauck & Daan van Soest, 2022. "Crowdfunding Conservation (and Other Public Goods)," Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, University of Chicago Press, vol. 9(3), pages 565-602.
    • Handle: RePEc:ucp:jaerec:doi:10.1086/718280
    DOI: 10.1086/718280
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    1. Chowdhury Mohammad Sakib Anwar & Konstantinos Georgalos, 2023. "Position Uncertainty in a Sequential Public Goods Game: An Experiment," Papers 2308.00179, arXiv.org, revised Apr 2024.
    2. Valente, Marieta & Fernandes, Maria Eduarda & Pinto, Lígia Maria Costa, 2024. "Crowdfunding or crowdsourcing time: Exploring the willingness of private citizens to help prevent forest fires," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 163(C).

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