PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Laure Kuhfuss
AU  - Raphaële Préget
AU  - Sophie Thoyer
AU  - Nick Hanley
AU  - Philippe Le Coent
AU  - Mathieu Désolé
TI  - Nudges, Social Norms, and Permanence in Agri-environmental Schemes
AID  - 10.3368/le.92.4.641
DP  - 2016 Nov 01
TA  - Land Economics
PG  - 641--655
VI  - 92
IP  - 4
4099  - http://le.uwpress.org/content/92/4/641.short
4100  - http://le.uwpress.org/content/92/4/641.full
SO  - Land Econ2016 Nov 01; 92
AB  - The permanence of land management practices adopted under agri-environmental schemes (AESs) is often questioned. This paper investigates the drivers of farmers’ decisions as to whether to maintain “proenvironment” practices beyond the duration of a contract, and in particular the effect of social norms. Our results, based on the stated intentions of 395 French farmers, show that both pecuniary and nonpecuniary motivations drive farmers’ decisions, which are also significantly influenced by information about a social norm. Therefore “nudging” farmers, by conveying information to them on other farmers’ proenvironmental practices, appears to be a means of maintaining the long-run benefits of AESs. (JEL Q18, Q28)