Our work seeks to understand the behaviours of economic agents, taking into account their interactions (both within and outside the market) and the context of risk and/or uncertainty in which they operate. From a sustainable development perspective, it aims also to study the effects that these behaviours can produce on an aggregate scale, with a particular focus on the development of public policies and incentives.
Head(s) :
Non-monetary incentives for sustainable harvesting of forest biomass
Political objectives concerning renewable sources of energy have increased the demand for forest biomass and may, in some situations, negatively influence the sustainable use of forest resources.
As part of the TAMOBIOM project, BETA has studied the use of non-monetary incentives to encourage forestry professionals to follow official guidelines in relation to sustainable biomass harvesting.
In collaboration with stakeholders, potential incentive mechanisms were identified and two non-monetary incentives tested in a field-laboratory context with students from LEES (BETA-Strasbourg Laboratory of Experimental Economics): the “voluntary signing of a commitment to apply sustainable harvesting practices” and a “pilot project for a concept of sustainability”.
The results indicate that signing a commitment had a significant impact on harvesting behaviour, while the impact of the pilot was limited.
Working paper
TAMOBIOM (Testing and Adoption by Operators of new technical and economic Models for a sustainable harvest of BIOMass). Research project funded by ADEME, Labex Arbre, and the GrandEst Region, and supported by INRAE.
