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The Survival of the Conformist: Social Pressure and Renewable Resource Management

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  • Tavoni, Alessandro
  • Schluter, Maja
  • Levin, Simon

Abstract

This paper examines the role of pro-social behavior as a mechanism for the establishment and maintenance of cooperation in resource use under variable social and environmental conditions. By coupling resource stock dynamics with social dynamics concerning compliance to a social norm prescribing non-excessive resource extraction in a common pool resource (CPR), we show that when reputational considerations matter and a sufficient level of social stigma affects the violators of a norm, sustainable outcomes are achieved. We find large parameter regions where norm-observing and norm-violating types coexist, and analyze to what extent such coexistence depends on the environment.

Suggested Citation

  • Tavoni, Alessandro & Schluter, Maja & Levin, Simon, 2010. "The Survival of the Conformist: Social Pressure and Renewable Resource Management," Sustainable Development Papers 96843, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei (FEEM).
    • Handle: RePEc:ags:feemdp:96843
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.96843
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    Cited by:

    1. Sergio Currarini & Carmen Marchiori & Alessandro Tavoni, 2016. "Network Economics and the Environment: Insights and Perspectives," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 65(1), pages 159-189, September.
    2. Richter, Andries & Grasman, Johan, 2013. "The transmission of sustainable harvesting norms when agents are conditionally cooperative," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 93(C), pages 202-209.
    3. Maja Schl�ter & Alessandro Tavoni & Simon Levin, 2014. "Robustness of norm-driven cooperation in the commons to environmental variability," GRI Working Papers 146, Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment.
    4. Tavoni, Alessandro & Levin, Simon, 2014. "Managing the climate commons at the nexus of ecology, behaviour and economics," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 60823, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    5. Dongryul Lee & Pilwon Kim, 2018. "Isolation and exploitation of minority: Game theoretical analysis," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(10), pages 1-7, October.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Environmental Economics and Policy;

    JEL classification:

    • F53 - International Economics - - International Relations, National Security, and International Political Economy - - - International Agreements and Observance; International Organizations
    • Q34 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Nonrenewable Resources and Conservation - - - Natural Resources and Domestic and International Conflicts
    • Q56 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Environment and Development; Environment and Trade; Sustainability; Environmental Accounts and Accounting; Environmental Equity; Population Growth

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