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Motivational Crowding in Sustainable Development Interventions

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 July 2015

ARUN AGRAWAL ,
ASHWINI CHHATRE  and
ELISABETH R. GERBER
ARUN AGRAWAL*
Affiliation:
University of Michigan
ASHWINI CHHATRE*
Affiliation:
Indian School of Business
ELISABETH R. GERBER*
Affiliation:
University of Michigan
*
Arun Agrawal is Professor, School of Natural Resources and Environment, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1041, 734-647-5948 (phone) ([email protected])
Ashwini Chhatre is Senior Research Fellow, Indian School of Business, Visiting Professor, Economics and Public Policy, Indian School of Business, Hyderabad, +91 40 2318 7134 (phone) ([email protected])
Elisabeth R. Gerber (corresponding author) is Jack L. Walker, Jr. Professor of Public Policy, Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, 734-647-4004 (phone) ([email protected])
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Abstract

We used a quasi-experimental research design to study the extent of motivational crowding in a recent sustainable development intervention in northern India. The project provided participants with both private and communal material benefits to enhance their incomes, and environmental and social information to inculcate pro-environmental motivations. We compared changes in reported motivations of participants for conserving forest resources, before and after project implementation, with changes in reported motivations of matched nonparticipants. We found that villagers who received private economic benefits were more likely to change from an environmental to an economic motivation for forest protection, whereas those who engaged in communal activities related to the project were less likely to change from an environmental to an economic motivation. These results, which indicate a substantial but conditional degree of motivational crowding, clarify the relationships between institutional change, incentives, and motivations and have important implications for the design of sustainable development interventions.

Type
Research Article
Information
American Political Science Review , Volume 109 , Issue 3 , August 2015 , pp. 470 - 487
Copyright
Copyright © American Political Science Association 2015 

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