Books by Natalia V. Czap
Individual Behavior in Social Context
This book is based on my dissertation written at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln under advisin... more This book is based on my dissertation written at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln under advising by Professor Roger Riefler. It focuses on introducing behavioral components and social context into economic models and includes three essays.
The first essay deals with the social aspects of urban and regional economic problems and applies industrial organization theory to solve these problems. The second essay focuses on the impact of social context on consumer behavior, and represents an interdisciplinary work in behavioral and experimental economics and economic psychology. The third essay considers individual participation in the solution of common (global) problems, which induces other regarding rather than pure self-interest behavior.
The purpose of this work is to develop a theoretical framework and to model individual behavior in social context for three types of decisions: a household choice of a neighborhood, a consumer decision regarding the purchase of goods and services, and a farmer choice of agricultural technologies which contribute to the reduction of the pace of global warming. Theoretical propositions and models’ conclusions are tested using survey and quasi-experimental data collected from human subjects. Empirical analysis confirmed models expectations and uncovered additional insides for future research.
The theoretical contribution of the first essay is in refining the view on communal associations and their influence on household choice of a neighborhood; and providing a novel framework for the identification of beneficiaries and the welfare analysis of an introduction of an association into the neighborhood.
The second essay expands the traditional economics consumer behavior model in two ways: it allows for a co-existence of two utility functions and multiple mental budget constraints. The proposed model is a powerful tool for analyzing and comparing consumer behavior in the presence and absence of social context.
The third essay made a contribution by discovering factors which motivate farmers to implement carbon sequestration technologies. The proposed environmental policy recommendations are aimed at decreasing direct financial costs of governmental programs, increasing the pace of carbon retirement, and ultimately facilitating the formation of an effective carbon emissions trading scheme.
Papers by Natalia V. Czap
E xtension is a D ivision of the Institute of A griculture and N atural R esources at the U niver... more E xtension is a D ivision of the Institute of A griculture and N atural R esources at the U niversity of N ebrask a-Lincoln cooperating with the C ounties and the U .S. D epartm ent of A griculture. U niversity of N ebrask a E xtension educational program s abide with the non-discrim ination policies of the U niversity of N ebrask a-Lincoln and the U nited S tates D epartm ent of A griculture.
Environmental problems coupled with shrinking budgets for environmental agencies call for alterna... more Environmental problems coupled with shrinking budgets for environmental agencies call for alternative strategies to improve the effectiveness of current and future environmental policies. Empathy conservation promises such an alternative approach. In this paper we summarize the findings from previous research testing various propositions of metaeconomics and dual-interest theory based on which we develop a conceptual framework for empathy conservation. Furthermore, we offer recommendations for using empathy conservation in environmental policy and programs.
A Rising Number of Women Farmers: Is There a Need to Adjust Conservation Incentives?
About a year ago we published the article “Downstream Pollution: Do Gender and Emotion Matter” (C... more About a year ago we published the article “Downstream Pollution: Do Gender and Emotion Matter” (Cornhusker Economics, September 23, 2015) reporting the gender effects with respect to expressing positive and negative emotions in the downstream pollution game. We found that expressing positive emotions does not result in higher levels of conservation and, thus, does not significantly affect the quality of downstream water regardless of the gender of the polluter. At the same time, expressing negative emotions was more effective in increasing conservation and achieving cleaner water downstream. Notably, in contrast to our expectations, men responded to negative emotions with a larger increase in conservation levels than women did. In this article, we further explore the gender differences in the environmental context; specifically, we test whether framing affects women and men differently. Experimental economics studies report that framing (the way the problem is worded, for instance e...
This paper investigates the role of property rights in environmental decisions and choices regard... more This paper investigates the role of property rights in environmental decisions and choices regarding the distribution of income in a downstream water pollution problem. The results confirm that who owns the property rights is a significant determinant of these decisions. More specifically, under certain conditions a property rights owner who suffers the consequences of negative externalities acts, on average, more environmentally friendly than a property rights owner who causes such negative externality. Similarly, when it comes to the distribution of income, the property rights owners who cause negative externalities allocate on average a larger share of the income to themselves.
This article summarizes our experimental research testing the metaeconomics framework (MEF) and d... more This article summarizes our experimental research testing the metaeconomics framework (MEF) and dual-interest theory (DIT), which suggests an important and substantive role for empathy in the design of conservation policy to achieve sustainability (for more detail, see
Environmental policy traditionally relies on financial incentives and direct regulation to achiev... more Environmental policy traditionally relies on financial incentives and direct regulation to achieve desirable outcomes in terms of conservation and pro-environmental behavior. Empirical research has shown that market based approaches are more cost-effective than direct regulation. However, experimental research has demonstrated that a combination of financial and non-financial incentives (specifically empathy nudging) is, on average, even more effective than a financial nudge, or empathy nudge, individually. The current study looks at environmental policy, specifically financial and empathy nudging, in the agricultural context. The increase of the number of farms headed by females raises the question whether previous findings of the effectiveness of these nudges are gender specific or gender neutral. We investigate this question using data from a framed laboratory experiment in the context of farmers’ conservation behavior. Specifically, we compare the change in conservation efforts ...
Comparing Female and Male Response to Financial Incentives and Empathy Nudging in an Environmental Context
Review of Behavioral Economics
‘I Gave You More’: Discretionary Power in a Corruption Experiment
Journal of Interdisciplinary Economics
Bribes are gifts that are given with an expectation of favourable treatment from a public officia... more Bribes are gifts that are given with an expectation of favourable treatment from a public official or an authority figure. In some cultures, gift giving is a widely accepted part of social interaction and the rejection of gifts may be frowned upon. The purpose of this article is to investigate whether and how the (in)ability to reject gifts/bribes impacts corrupt behaviour. We present the results of an economic experiment in which two agents (firms) are competing for governmental funds. The firms may choose to bribe a public official, who is responsible for distributing the funds. We find that if there is an option to reject bribes, then the average funds allocated to the bribers are lower than in case there is no such option. This holds regardless of whether the bribe was, in fact, accepted or rejected. We also find that if the bribe was rejected, the bribers receive less governmental funds on average. Our results shed some light on the persistence of corruption in cultures in whic...
Encouraging farmers' participation in the Conservation Stewardship Program: A field experiment
Ecological Economics
Does Might Make Right? An Experiment on Assigning Property Rights
Ecological Economics
Journal of Economic Psychology
This paper investigates whether personality traits play a significant role in the decision to inv... more This paper investigates whether personality traits play a significant role in the decision to invest in energy efficiency in the residential sector. Using the data from the Understanding Society UK survey, we apply structural equation modelling to examine if the Big Five personality traits help explain why certain individuals choose to invest in energy efficiency measures while others do not, even under nearly identical financial conditions. The results show that personality traits affect one-time, high-cost energy efficiency investments indirectly through environmental attitudes and risk preferences. However, low-cost proenvironmental habits, such as conserving energy and buying 'green' products, are mediated only through the environmental attitude, but not through the risk preference channel. This is consistent with the fact that these everyday choices carry a much lower financial risk than an expensive energy efficiency investment. The findings illustrate that personality traits may pose a barrier to reducing energy consumption in the residential sector and underline the need for creating differentiated and targeted products and policies.
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Books by Natalia V. Czap
The first essay deals with the social aspects of urban and regional economic problems and applies industrial organization theory to solve these problems. The second essay focuses on the impact of social context on consumer behavior, and represents an interdisciplinary work in behavioral and experimental economics and economic psychology. The third essay considers individual participation in the solution of common (global) problems, which induces other regarding rather than pure self-interest behavior.
The purpose of this work is to develop a theoretical framework and to model individual behavior in social context for three types of decisions: a household choice of a neighborhood, a consumer decision regarding the purchase of goods and services, and a farmer choice of agricultural technologies which contribute to the reduction of the pace of global warming. Theoretical propositions and models’ conclusions are tested using survey and quasi-experimental data collected from human subjects. Empirical analysis confirmed models expectations and uncovered additional insides for future research.
The theoretical contribution of the first essay is in refining the view on communal associations and their influence on household choice of a neighborhood; and providing a novel framework for the identification of beneficiaries and the welfare analysis of an introduction of an association into the neighborhood.
The second essay expands the traditional economics consumer behavior model in two ways: it allows for a co-existence of two utility functions and multiple mental budget constraints. The proposed model is a powerful tool for analyzing and comparing consumer behavior in the presence and absence of social context.
The third essay made a contribution by discovering factors which motivate farmers to implement carbon sequestration technologies. The proposed environmental policy recommendations are aimed at decreasing direct financial costs of governmental programs, increasing the pace of carbon retirement, and ultimately facilitating the formation of an effective carbon emissions trading scheme.
Papers by Natalia V. Czap