Combining economic experiments and ecological-economic modelling: application to agri-environment schemes for biodiversity conservation

Maho Nakagawa (), Mathieu Lefebvre, Anne Stenger (), Astrid Sturm and Frank Wätzold
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Maho Nakagawa: CESAER - Centre d'économie et de sociologie rurales appliquées à l'agriculture et aux espaces ruraux - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement - Institut Agro Dijon - Institut Agro - Institut national d'enseignement supérieur pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement
Mathieu Lefebvre: BETA - Bureau d'Économie Théorique et Appliquée - AgroParisTech - UNISTRA - Université de Strasbourg - Université de Haute-Alsace (UHA) - Université de Haute-Alsace (UHA) Mulhouse - Colmar - UL - Université de Lorraine - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement
Anne Stenger: BETA - Bureau d'Économie Théorique et Appliquée - AgroParisTech - UNISTRA - Université de Strasbourg - Université de Haute-Alsace (UHA) - Université de Haute-Alsace (UHA) Mulhouse - Colmar - UL - Université de Lorraine - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement
Astrid Sturm: BTU - Brandenburg University of Technology [Cottbus – Senftenberg]
Frank Wätzold: BTU - Brandenburg University of Technology [Cottbus – Senftenberg]

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Abstract: Economic experiments related to biodiversity conservation policies provide valuable insights into how individuals respond to specific policy designs. However, they provide limited guidance on how to design cost-effective conservation policies at the landscape level. Ecological-economic models - integrating ecological dynamics with economic decision-making in optimization procedures - are well-suited to this purpose. Yet they nearly always assume purely profit-maximizing behaviour, overlooking deviations from this behaviour observed in practice. Our methodological aim is to combine these two approaches by incorporating behavioural data from a charitable-giving based laboratory experiment with student participants into an established decision-support software based on an ecological-economic model. We empirically explore how pro-environmental motives might influence participation in agri-environment schemes (AES) through decision support software applied to meadow bird conservation. Adjusting the modelling procedure to reflect intrinsic motives, we compare outcomes with those generated under standard profit-maximization assumption. The results indicate that while behavioural motives can increase participation, their overall impact on cost-effective AES design recommendations remain modest.

Keywords: Payment for ecosystem services; Lab experiment; Human behaviour; Decision support software; Agri-environmental schemes (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026-06-29
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Published in Journal of Environmental Economics and Policy, 2026, pp.1-24. ⟨10.1080/21606544.2026.2694359⟩

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:hal-05772199

DOI: 10.1080/21606544.2026.2694359

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