By: |
Maris, Robbie (Centre for Education Policy and Equalising Opportunities, University College London (UCL));
Zack, Dorner (Department of Environmental Management, Lincoln University);
Carlsson, Fredrik (Department of Economics, School of Business, Economics and Law, Göteborg University) |
Abstract: |
Shifting individual behaviour is an important tool for addressing
environmental issues and there is a wide literature evaluating interventions
to encourage pro-environmental behaviour. One important but under-researched
area is the effect of combining interventions to affect behaviour. In this
paper, we evaluate the effects of two interventions – monetary incentives and
nudges – on nature restoration volunteering. We use a two-by-two treatment
design to evaluate the individual and combined effects of the interventions in
a field experiment setting. We find that the monetary incentive significantly
increases volunteering behaviour, despite concerns incentives may crowd out
motivation, but that nudging alone is ineffective at shifting behaviour.
However, there are considerable positive synergies between the monetary
incentive and nudge. The monetary incentive becomes more than twice as
effective when it is combined with a nudge. We find support for our
theoretical prediction that this synergy arises because the nudge reduces
motivational crowding out effects from the incentive. Our results have
important policy implications, showing that concerns around motivation
crowding out from monetary incentives could be mitigated by simple, low-cost
nudges. |
Keywords: |
Field experiment; incentive; nature restoration; nudge; PEB; pro-environmental behaviour; synergy; volunteering |
JEL: |
C93 D91 Q57 |
Date: |
2024–03–11 |
URL: |
http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:gunwpe:0842&r=nud |