PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Leah H. Palm-Forster
AU  - Mark Griesinger
AU  - Julianna M. Butler
AU  - Jacob R. Fooks
AU  - Kent D. Messer
TI  - Stewardship Signaling and Use of Social Pressure to Reduce Nonpoint Source Pollution
AID  - 10.3368/le.98.4.041820-0056R1
DP  - 2022 Nov 01
TA  - Land Economics
PG  - 618--638
VI  - 98
IP  - 4
4099  - http://le.uwpress.org/content/98/4/618.short
4100  - http://le.uwpress.org/content/98/4/618.full
SO  - Land Econ2022 Nov 01; 98
AB  - Nonpoint source pollution persists in agricultural landscapes, and policy makers are increasingly interested in opportunities to reduce pollution using behavioral approaches in lieu of regulations or increased financial incentives. We use a laboratory experiment to analyze how stewardship signaling and social pressure affect management decisions with environmental consequences. We find that stewardship signaling and, to some extent, social pressures increase adoption of a pollution-abatement technology, but the effect on social net benefit depends on the relative cost of technology adoption and the economic benefits of pollution reduction. Our results have implications for agri-environmental programs that publicly recognize environmental stewardship.