PhD projects
PhD student: Fabian Thomas
Participating AvH-team members: Stefanie Engel, Ann-Kathrin Koessler, Estelle Midler
Project partner: Marianne LeFevbre (University of Angers, France)
This thesis shed light on the behavioral drivers of pro-environmental decisions of farmers and how these insights can be used to adapt existing policies.
PhD student: Abel-Gautier Kouakou
Participating AvH-team members: Stefanie Engel, Elisabeth Gsottbauer
Project partners: Daan van Soest (Tilburg University, Netherlands), Raymond Vodouhe & N’Danikou Sognigbe (Bioversity International, Benin)
This thesis investigated the role of behavioral economics considerations for the performance of conservation auctions, a type of PES.
PhD student: Adriana Bernal-Escobar
Participating AvH-members: Stefanie Engel, Estelle Midler, Tobias Vorlaufer
Project partners: Unai Pascual (BC3 Bilbao, Spain), Juan-Camilo Cardenas (Universidad de los Andes, Colombia)
This thesis studied the relationship between social equity and environmental effectiveness in the implementation of PES.
PhD student: Bosco Lliso
Participating AvH-members: Stefanie Engel
Project partners: Unai Pascual and Petr Mariel (BC3 Bilbao, Spain), Instituto de Investigación de Recursos Biológicos Alexander von Humboldt (Bogotá, Colombia)
This thesis addressed whether making PES more equitable increases the likelihood that they will be successful, and if that is the case, how equitability of PES can be enhanced.
PhD student: Juan Felipe Ortiz-Riomalo
Participating AvH-team members: Stefanie Engel, Ann-Kathrin Koessler
Project partners: Juan-Camilo Cardenas (Universidad de Los Andes, Colombia), Claudia Pahl-Wostl (IUSF, Osnabrück), Institute for the Sciences of Nature, Territory and Renewable Energies (INTE)/Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, Ministry of Environment Peru, Pro Ambiente/GIZ Peru (Lima, Peru)
The thesis investigated the extent to which and the mechanisms by which participatory interventions could foster (or hinder) pro-social and collective action for natural resource management and environmental protection.
PhD students: Nicolai Heinz
Participating AvH-team members: Stefanie Engel, Ann-Kathrin Koessler
Project partners: Bernd Hansjürgens/ Julian Rode (Helmholtz Umweltforschungszentrum Leipzig)
This thesis aimed to investigate the causal link between other-regarding preferences and pro-environmental decision-making by assessing whether and how other-regarding preferences can be activated or strengthened in order to promote pro-environmental behavior, and if and how it matters who is affected by environmental degradation.
PhD student: Marie Ferré (ETH Zurich)
Participating AvH-team members: Stefanie Engel, Elisabeth Gsottbauer
Project partners: Adrian Müller (ETH Zurich, Switzerland), Jens Leifeld (Agroscope, Switzerland)
This thesis analyzed how agri-environmental payment schemes should be designed to incentivize a more sustainable use of organic soils, focusing on the Seeland region in Switzerland.
Literature reviews
- Engel, S. 2016. The Devil in the Detail: A Practical Guide on Designing Payments for Environmental Services. International Review of Environmental and Resource Economics 9(1-2):131-177. http://dx.doi.org/10.1561/101.00000076
- Wunder, S., Brouwer, R., Engel, S., Ezzine-de-Blas, D., Muradian, R., Pascual, U., Pinto, R. 2018. From principles to practice in paying for nature's services. Nature Sustainability 1 (March 2018): 145-150. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-018-0036-x
- Koessler, A-K., Engel, S. 2021. Policies as information carriers: how environmental policies may change beliefs and consequent behavior. International Review of Environmental and Resource Economics 15(1-2): 1-31. http://dx.doi.org/10.1561/101.00000123.
- Ortiz-Riomalo, J.-F., Koessler, A.-K., & Engel, S. 2023. The impact of participatory interventions on pro-social behavior in environmental and natural resource management: Evidence from the lab and the field. In A. Bucciol, A. Tavoni, & M. Veronesi (Eds.), Behavioral Economics and the Environment: A Research Companion. Routledge. Chapter available under https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4938776.
Further field-experimental studies
- Field experiments on cooperation in fisheries management in Zanzibar (A. Javaid, S. Engel, A. Schlüter (ZMT Bremen))
- Spillovers of terminated Payments for Ecosystem Services in Uganda (T. Vorlaufer, S. Engel, J. de Laat (Utrecht University), B. Vollan (University of Marburg)
- Social norms and the pro-environmental behavior of adolescents (T. Vorlaufer, A.-K. Koessler with F. Fiebelkorn (Biology didactics, UOS))
- Motivational crowding effects in payments for ecosystem services under alternative value frames (B. Lliso, S. Engel, U. Pascual (BC3, Bilbao, Spain), P. Arias Arevalo and S. Maca Millán (Universidad del Valle, Cali, Colombia))
- Identity and dishonesty in environmental compliance: Experimental evidence from German farmers(F. Thomas, A.-K. Koessler, S. Engel, C. Meyer (ZALF, lead), J. Rommel (University of Uppsala), B. Matzdorf (University of Hannover, ZALF)
Further lab-experimental studies
- Sustainability pledges (A.-K. Koessler, P. Martinsson (University of Gothenburg))
- Coordination and inequalities in agglomeration payments: An experimental analysis (E. Gsottbauer, S. Engel, F. Wätzold (University Cottbus), M. Drechsler (UFZ Leipzig))
- Behavioral spillovers, incentives and collective action: Evidence from experiments (E. Gsottbauer, E. Midler, S. Engel)
- Peer monitoring and cooperation in repeated social dilemmas: Experimental evidence on a folk theorem (E. Gsottbauer, S. Engel, T. Goeschl (University of Heidelberg), J. Jarke (University of Hamburg))
- Effectiveness of Payments for Water Services: the impact of income inequalities and entitlements(E. Midler, S. Engel, U. Pascual (BC3))
- The influence of imperfect reporting in social dilemmas (A.-K. Koessler with M. Cubel (University of Bath) and S. Sanchez (Kings College London))
- Sustainable consumption decisions in tele-coupled settings: Example Cacao(S. Engel, A.-K. Koessler, I. Branga-Peicu, H. Campe)
- Heterogenous climate change adaptation costs and ex-post coping in groups (T. Vorlaufer, I. Steimanis (Marburg University))