nep-cbe New Economics Papers
on Cognitive and Behavioural Economics
Issue of 2023‒03‒13
two papers chosen by
Marco Novarese
Università degli Studi del Piemonte Orientale
  1. Social preferences before and after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in China By King King Li; Ying-Yi Hong; Bo Huang; Tony Tam
  2. When Nudges backfire : Evidence from a Randomized Field Experiment to Boost Biological Pest Control By Sylvain Chabé-Ferret; Philippe Le Coënt; Caroline Lefebvre; Raphaële Préget; François Salanié; Subervie Julie; Sophie S. Thoyer
  1. By: King King Li (Shenzhen Audenica Financial Technology Institute); Ying-Yi Hong (Chinese University of Hong Kong - Partenaires INRAE); Bo Huang (Chinese University of Hong Kong - Partenaires INRAE); Tony Tam (Chinese University of Hong Kong - Partenaires INRAE)
    Abstract: This study compares Chinese people's trust and trustworthiness, risk attitude, and time preference before and after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in China. We compare the preferences of subjects in two online experiments with samples drawn from 31 provinces across mainland China before and after the onset of the pandemic. We test two competing hypotheses regarding trust and trustworthiness. On the one hand, the outbreak as a collective threat could enhance in-group cohesion and cooperation and thus increase trust and trustworthiness. On the other hand, to the extent that people expect their future income to decline, they may become more self-protective and self-controlled, and thus less trusting and trustworthy and more risk averse and patient. Comparing before and after the onset, we found that the subjects increased in trustworthiness. After the onset, trust and trustworthiness (and risk aversion and present bias too) were positively correlated with the COVID-19 prevalence rate in the provinces. Subjects with more pessimistic expectations about income change showed more risk aversion and lower discount rates, supporting the speculation concerning self-control.
    Keywords: COVID-19, trust, trustworthiness, social preference, risk attitude
    Date: 2022–11
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-03899653&r=cbe
  2. By: Sylvain Chabé-Ferret (TSE-R - Toulouse School of Economics - UT1 - Université Toulouse 1 Capitole - Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement, Institute for Advanced Studies - Institute for Advanced Studies); Philippe Le Coënt (BRGM - Bureau de Recherches Géologiques et Minières (BRGM)); Caroline Lefebvre (Laboratoire de Virologie [Toulouse] - CHU Toulouse [Toulouse]); Raphaële Préget (CEE-M - Centre d'Economie de l'Environnement - Montpellier - UM - Université de Montpellier - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement - Institut Agro - Montpellier SupAgro - Institut Agro - Institut national d'enseignement supérieur pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement); François Salanié (TSE-R - Toulouse School of Economics - UT1 - Université Toulouse 1 Capitole - Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement); Subervie Julie (CEE-M - Centre d'Economie de l'Environnement - Montpellier - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement - Institut Agro Montpellier - Institut Agro - Institut national d'enseignement supérieur pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement - UM - Université de Montpellier); Sophie S. Thoyer (CEE-M - Centre d'Economie de l'Environnement - Montpellier - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement - Institut Agro Montpellier - Institut Agro - Institut national d'enseignement supérieur pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement - UM - Université de Montpellier)
    Abstract: Nudges are increasingly used to alter the behavior of economic agents as an alternative to monetary incentives. However, little is known as to whether nudges can backfire, that is, how and when they may generate effects opposite to those they intend to achieve. We provide the first field evidence of a nudge that is designed to encourage pro-environmental behavior, which instead backfires. We randomly allocate a social comparison nudge inviting winegrowers to adopt biological pest control as an alternative to chemical pesticide use. We find that our nudge decreases by half the adoption of biological pest control among the largest vineyards, where the bulk of adoption occurs. We show that this result can be rationalized in an economic model where winegrowers and winegrower-cooperative managers bargain over future rents generated by the adoption of biological pest control. This study highlights the importance of experimenting on a small scale with nudges aimed at encouraging adoption of virtuous behaviors in order to detect unexpected adverse effects, particularly in contexts where negotiations on the sharing of the costs of adoption are likely to occur.
    Keywords: Nudges, Behavioral Economics, Pesticides, Government Policy.
    Date: 2023–02–02
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpceem:hal-03971193&r=cbe
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