Can Engagement Improve Groundwater Management?

Felipe de Figueiredo Silva, Richard Perrin, Lilyan Fulginiti and Mark E. Burbach ()
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Felipe de Figueiredo Silva: Department of Agricultural Sciences, College of Agriculture, Forestry and Life Sciences, Clemson University, Clemson, SC 29634, USA
Mark E. Burbach: #x2021;School of Natural Resources, Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE 68583, USA

Water Economics and Policy (WEP), 2021, vol. 07, issue 02, 1-32

Abstract: Groundwater use often has external effects on both the environment and future groundwater benefits, leading to overwithdrawal. Ostrom’s research on common property resources (CPRs) and related literature indicates that CPR management may improve if users have more information about the groundwater system, more opportunities for communication, and empowerment to regulate. In this paper, we conduct a computer laboratory experiment involving 180 students to evaluate the role of these components of engagement in reducing irrigation withdrawals from an aquifer. Our treatments, which consisted of different levels of information, communication, and empowerment, resulted in decreases in groundwater extraction and increases in irrigation profits over nine-year extraction horizons. Enhanced information and communication also increased the fraction of subjects who voted for and complied with collective action in the form of quotas on pumping levels.

Keywords: Groundwater depletion; engagement; experimental economics (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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DOI: 10.1142/S2382624X21500089

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