Formation of biodiversity restoration payment acceptance: A review from socio-psychological and experimental economic perspectives

Mimi Salminah, Adam Loch, Thomas A.A. Prowse and Patrick J. O'Connor

Ecological Economics, 2026, vol. 239, issue C

Abstract: A lack of ecosystem service valuation and limitations in individuals' willingness to pay for ecosystem services might be addressed with socio-psychological perspectives, particularly one that adjusts the rational utility concept. However, a change to socio-psychological perspectives first requires the identification of the mechanisms through which factors interact with each other to ultimately shape preferences for environmental goods/services. But what drives the desire to fund positive change remains unclear. To address this, we explored literature on the socio-psychological drivers of public citizen and private landholder biodiversity restoration and payment preferences. Our investigations reveal that interactions between environmental, economic and socio-psychological factors influence individual biodiversity restoration and payment preferences. Consequently, literature search terms were expanded to behavioural economic studies to better inform future ecosystem service policy interventions. By synthesizing the two sets of evidence we theorise a framework that can be used to examine how stimulus packages, socio-psychological, economic, and socio-demographic factors interplay with cognitive processes to form public citizen and private landholder preferences. The framework aims to help policy makers and practitioners understand the drivers and mechanisms of preference formation and potentially increase funding, which is a key step towards designing appropriate interventions for increased contribution to sustained biodiversity restoration efforts.

Keywords: Utility; Social-ecological systems; Ecosystem service valuation; Willingness to pay; Willingness to accept; Preferences; Framework analysis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:ecolec:v:239:y:2026:i:c:s0921800925002769

DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2025.108793

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