Search

The paper reports a laboratory experiment in which groups of participants managed a Common-Pool Resource (CPR). The goal was to observe if different types of resource change, whether exogenous or endogenous, and gradual or sudden, would lead to different behaviour, and if the participants would adapt easily to any one of these changes. The experiment used a time continuous, dynamic tool. Endogenous resource changes, when compared with exogenous changes, led to higher cooperation, and a better management of the resource, thus reducing the risk of extinction through overharvesting. Abrupt changes appear to induce users to modify their behaviour according to what happens to the resource, but gradual changes do not seem to lead to behavioural change. In line with previous research, our results suggest that, when the users are aware of the threat of potential disasters, they can adapt their behaviour and move toward a solution which can avoid the tragedy of the commons.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the introduction of mandatory face mask usage triggered a heated debate. A major point of controversy is whether community use of masks creates a false sense of security that would diminish physical distancing, counteracting any potential direct benefit from masking. We conducted a randomized field experiment in Berlin, Germany, to investigate how masks affect distancing and whether the mask effect interacts with the introduction of an indoor mask mandate. Joining waiting lines in front of stores, we measured distances kept from the experimenter in two treatment conditions – the experimenter wore a mask in one and no face covering in the other – in two time spans – before and after mask use becoming mandatory in stores. We find no evidence that mandatory masking has a negative effect on distance kept toward a masked person. To the contrary, masks significantly increase distancing and the effect does not differ between the two periods. However, we show that after the mandate distances are shorter in locations where more non-essential stores, which were closed before the mandate, had reopened. We argue that the relaxations in general restrictions that coincided with the mask mandate led individuals to reduce other precautions, like keeping a safe distance.

A rapid coal phase-out is needed to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement, but is hindered by serious challenges ranging from vested interests to the risks of social disruption. To understand how to organize a global coal phase-out, it is crucial to go beyond cost-effective climate mitigation scenarios and learn from the experience of previous coal transitions. Despite the relevance of the topic, evidence remains fragmented throughout different research fields, and not easily accessible. To address this gap, this paper provides a systematic map and comprehensive review of the literature on historical coal transitions. We use computer-assisted systematic mapping and review methods to chart and evaluate the available evidence on historical declines in coal production and consumption. We extracted a dataset of 278 case studies from 194 publications, covering coal transitions in 44 countries and ranging from the end of the 19th century until 2021. We find a relatively recent and rapidly expanding body of literature reflecting the growing importance of an early coal phase-out in scientific and political debates. Previous evidence has primarily focused on the United Kingdom, the United States, and Germany, while other countries that experienced large coal declines, like those in Eastern Europe, are strongly underrepresented. An increasing number of studies, mostly published in the last 5 years, has been focusing on China. Most of the countries successfully reducing coal dependency have undergone both demand-side and supply-side transitions. This supports the use of policy approaches targeting both demand and supply to achieve a complete coal phase-out. From a political economy perspective, our dataset highlights that most transitions are driven by rising production costs for coal, falling prices for alternative energies, or local environmental concerns, especially regarding air pollution. The main challenges for coal-dependent regions are structural change transformations, in particular for industry and labor. Rising unemployment is the most largely documented outcome in the sample. Policymakers at multiple levels are instrumental in facilitating coal transitions. They rely mainly on regulatory instruments to foster the transitions and compensation schemes or investment plans to deal with their transformative processes. Even though many models suggest that coal phase-outs are among the low-hanging fruits on the way to climate neutrality and meeting the international climate goals, our case studies analysis highlights the intricate political economy at work that needs to be addressed through well-designed and just policies.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the introduction of mandatory face mask usage was accompanied by a heated debate. It was argued that community use of masks creates a false sense of security that could decrease social distancing, thus making matters worse. We conducted a randomized field experiment in Berlin, Germany, to investigate whether masks lead to decreases in distancing and whether this mask effect interacts with the introduction of a mask mandate in Berlin. Joining lines in front of stores, we measured the distance kept from the experimenter in two treatment conditions - the experimenter wore a mask in one and no face covering in the other - both before and after the introduction of mandatory mask use in stores. We find no evidence that mandatory masking has a negative effect on distance keeping. To the contrary, in our study, masks significantly increase distancing and the effect does not differ between the two periods. Further, we find no evidence that the mask mandate affected distancing. However, our results suggest that the relaxation of shop opening restrictions had a negative effect on distancing.

Governments across the world have implemented restrictive policies to slow the spread of COVID-19. Recommended face mask use has been a controversially discussed policy, among others, due to potential adverse effects on physical distancing. Using a randomized field experiment (N = 300), we show that individuals kept a significantly larger distance from someone wearing a face mask than from an unmasked person during the early days of the pandemic. According to an additional survey experiment (N = 456) conducted at the time, masked individuals were not perceived as being more infectious than unmasked ones, but they were believed to prefer more distancing. This result suggests that wearing a mask served as a social signal that led others to increase the distance they kept. Our findings provide evidence against the claim that mask use creates a false sense of security that would negatively affect physical distancing. Furthermore, our results suggest that behavior has informational content that may be affected by policies. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s40881-021-00108-6.

In the experimental field, many facets of the interaction between humans and resources have been studied through relatively simple common-pool resource games. They lack, therefore, some potentially relevant characteristics of the world they aim to represent. Introducing more complex, real-time experiments, including a spatial distribution of the participants and the resources, is a way of bridging this gap. But how far are the results comparable? And in how far is the behavior of the experimental subjects influenced by the mere introduction of a spatial representation of the resource? We revisited the Virtual Commons’ Foraging experiment developed by Janssen (2010), and compared the behavior observed in a spatially distributed resource with the one emerging in absence of a spatial distribution, in order to identify differences caused by the different representation of the resource. Our results show that the introduction of a two-dimensional experimental space lowers cooperation levels.

Resource stock levels in common-pool resources have received little attention by academic research so far, and the results delivered are inconclusive as of yet. Furthermore, the reactions of users to resource changes, and the related variations in the levels of cooperation are still mostly unknown. In this paper we present the result of an experimental study that aims to test the effect of both resource changes and stock levels on harvesting behavior. We conducted common-pool resource laboratory experiments, using a student sample, with different resource stock levels, in order to test for differences in harvesting behavior, and presenting them just a payoff table, to minimize framing effects. We also collected further personal data and we tried to define what goal the students chose for themselves during the game. Our results suggest that, at least without framing the experiment, the resource levels do not induce different behavior, while other-related preferences seem to play a major role.