Behavioral Economics and the - PowerPoint Presentation

Slide1

Behavioral Economics and the Bay - An Exploratory WorkshopPresentation to the Citizens Advisory Committee

November 20, 2014Slide2

Planning Committee and AttendeesPlanning CommitteeCharlie Abdalla, Committee Chair, Penn

State University

Susan Julius, EPA Office of Research and Development

Matt Ellis, Chesapeake Research ConsortiumPoornima Madhavan, National Academy of SciencesJim Pease, Virginia TechMarc Ribaudo, USDA-Economic Research ServiceKurt Stephenson, Virginia TechLisa Wainger, University of Maryland

Presenters / Attendees

Jamie Baxter, Chesapeake

Bay Trust

Dana Archer

Dolan, George

Mason University School of Public Policy

Suzanne Etgen, Watershed

Stewards Academy, Arlington Echo Outdoor Education Center

Lamonte

Garber, Stroud

Water Research Center

David Just, Professor

,

Cornell

University

Sarah

Lynch, Director

,

World

Wildlife Fund

Laura McCann, University

of Missouri

Kent

Messer, University

of Delaware

Amanda

Pruzinsky, Chesapeake

Research Consortium, Inc.

Ann Sorensen, American

Farmland Trust

Lauren

Taneyhill

, Chesapeake

Research Consortium, Inc.Slide3

Workshop GoalsBroaden knowledge of behavioral economics

and potential for applications in

the

BayExplore application to specific problem areas:non-point source agricultural pollutionhousehold/homeowner land and water managementIncrease knowledge exchange and expand collaboration among practitioners and researchers to address Bay-specific policy challenges

Identify

and prioritize follow-up strategies for extending

insights from the workshop

Communicate

this knowledge to state and EPA policymakers and other key

audiencesSlide4

Definition of Behavioral Economics (BE)"Behavioral economics is…the intersection of economics and psychology

.”

Traditional economic

theory assumes that people are rational and make choices that maximize their happiness.vs.Behavioral economic theory accounts for nonrational behavior, (e.g., procrastination, imperfect information, inherent psychological biases) that do not always make people good decision-makersAdapted from Jodi Beggs (http://economics.about.com)Slide5

Example of BE Research ResultsResearch focuses on discovering how choices/decisions can be influenced by relatively subtle changes in framing or phrasing (Just, 2014). One example from the workshop was:

Healthy Lunches

:

Research uncovered factors that influence high school students’ lunch food choices.To promote healthy choices, changes were made to placement and presentation of food:Healthy choices were placed within easy reach while unhealthy choices were moved outside of an easy reach.A healthy entrée, a bean burrito, was renamed to make it sound more exciting.

Some

healthy choices were more attractively

displayed and available near the cashier.

Changes resulted in many more students selecting

healthier foods for lunch

.

Careful

selection of the ways in which choices were presented

improved

the students’ food decisions without limiting what was available

.Slide6

Workshop DetailsHeld August 27-28 at SYSNC (Annapolis)

17

p

articipatedKeynote speaker was: David Just, Cornell UniversityParticipants were from: Federal Agencies, NGOs (Arlington Echo Outdoor Education Center, Stroud Water Center, American Farmland Trust, Chesapeake Bay Trust), Universities (U. of Missouri, U. of Delaware, George Mason U.)Breakout sessions explored:

Areas

of greatest

need

related to individual decisions that cause

water quality problems

Situations

(decision-making contexts)

that have

the greatest potential for applications of behavioral economics in the Bay

watershed

Recommendations

for how to stimulate greater applied research

and action

on the above identified high-priority topics?

Potential recipients of the

report and

recommendations, and how the

report’s messages

should be conveyed

Conducted workshop evaluationSlide7

Research RecommendationsMotivation for behaviors that can inform on Bay outreach and engagement programs

Efficacy

of

programs geared toward informing homeowners about actions and links to the Bay Methods to account for BMP implementation by home owners.Methods to embed stewardship and water quality improvements into farmers’ social identityMethods to cultivate peer pressure related to stewardship to encourage change.

Effective

visual

demonstrations / techniques

that encourage behavioral change among various

communities

.

Information that would motivate farmers to increase their participation

in conservation

programs.

Collaborative

learning communities

that identify

opportunities and

refine

implementation approaches related to behavior

change, e.g.:

Partnerships

between practitioners and

academics for mutual learning experiences and information exchange to support behavioral

change

programs that address on-the-ground

implementation

challenges.Slide8

Workshop Goals were Met

The workshop was effective

in

Broadening knowledge

of behavioral economics and how this field might be applied in the Chesapeake Bay watershed.

facilitating

an in-depth exploration of the potential application of behavioral economics to non-point source agricultural pollution or household/homeowner land and water management.

identifying

and prioritizing follow-up strategies that will serve to extend insights beyond the attendees to the larger community of researchers and regulators/policymakers

.

BE research is already underway in the Bay

Such efforts represent

learning opportunities for organizations and individuals that could apply those same techniques in other

places.

A

database of such efforts, including key characteristics of the

environmental problem and solution, is being developed and will facilitate learning and expansion of the application of behavioral sciences to environmental problems in the Bay.The STAC will look for opportunities to contribute to this research for issues specific to the Bay