Selected projects

with Tobias Vorlaufer and Ann-Kathrin Koessler

with Ann-Kathrin Koessler

with Ann-Kathrin Koessler

Abstract

With the advent of climate change, extreme weather events have become increasingly frequent and intense, posing significant challenges to agricultural systems worldwide. Smallholder farmers are among the most vulnerable groups, whose livelihoods depend heavily on weather-sensitive crops. In this paper, we assess if farmers adapt or maladapt after being exposed to extreme weather events and whether their perceived mental well-being determines their decisions. By analysing data about the farming practices and conditions of 970 farmers in Thailand, we examine the actions farmers implement which can be catalogued as adaptation or maladaptation actions. Although our results cannot specify an increase in adaptation or maladaptation actions after experiencing an extreme weather event, we reveal a notable rise in maladaptation with state aid for natural disasters. Similarly, we find that risk tolerance correlates with increased adaptation, while higher patience offsets this effect.

with Pablo Soto-Mota 

Abstract

Why do individuals in groups tend to cause more harm than isolated individuals? This paper explores the mechanisms of diffusion of responsibility and social norms. Using an online experiment with 1,801 participants, we ask two questions: Are individuals in larger groups of culprits more willing to collaborate in generating harm? Do descriptive social norms affect the willingness to collaborate in generating harm? In the experiment, participants were pivotal in a group decision whether to eliminate a charity donation. They could benefit privately from favouring the elimination, though their individual decision was crucial for the group. We compared groups with different numbers of culprits and different strengths of the descriptive social norm. Congruent with the idea of diffusion of responsibility, we found that a larger proportion of participants were willing to cause harm in groups with more culprits. Likewise, as predicted by descriptive social norms, we found that participants were more likely to eliminate the donation when they knew that a larger proportion of individuals in their group had favoured eliminating it.

with Giuliana Triberti, Pablo Soto-Mota and Luis Serra-Barragán

Abstract

Dishonesty harms economic performance and growth. However, the literature on dishonesty has used almost exclusively samples from developed countries. In addition, previous studies present non-conclusive results on how concerns for others affect lying behaviour. In view of this gap in the evidence, the present study explores how the decision to be dishonest changes when it affects a charity. In an experiment involving 555 participants in Mexico, subjects could lie about the result of a dice roll without any possibility of detection. We contrast a situation without incentives to three conditions that differ in how dishonesty affected the charity. Deceitful behaviour increased when participants could benefit from it. Also, participants lied less when they received benefits at the expense of the charity, but they did not lie more when they could help it. Our results suggest that making salient how dishonesty harms others might help reduce its negative effects in society.