ECONOMIC INCENTIVES AND CONSERVATION: CROWDING-IN SOCIAL NORMS IN A GROUNDWATER COMMONS

Price-based interventions can be corrective where users extract from a common resource, but may also impact existing social norms, often crowding them out. In contrast, the article finds a pumping fee implemented by a group of irrigators in Southern Colorado effectively crowds-in pro-conservation norms, enhancing the financial incentive’s impact. May 18, 2018