Javaid Aneeque, Kulesz Micaela M, Schlüter Achim, Ghosh Alexandra, Jiddawi Narriman S
Institut für Umweltsystemforschung, Universität Osnabrück, Osnabrück, Germany.
Jacobs University, Bremen, Germany.
PLoS One. 2016 Dec 29;11(12):e0168898. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0168898. eCollection 2016.
Natural resource users face a trade-off between present and future consumption. Using harmful methods or extracting unsustainably, lowers future consumption. Therefore, it is reasonable to posit that people with higher time preferences extract more as compared to people with lower time preferences. The present study combines experimental methods and questionnaire data in order to understand the relationship between individual time preferences and fishers' extraction behavior. We elicit individual time preferences using an incentivized experiment, linking the resulting time preference measures to extraction data from a questionnaire, as well as data collected from a framed Common Pool Resource (CPR) experiment. Both the experiments and questionnaire were conducted with artisanal fishers in Zanzibar. Our findings suggest that the relationship between time preferences and CPR extraction is not as straightforward as predicted by classical economic theory. In contrast to earlier studies, we find that fishers' time preferences are negatively correlated to their extraction rates. Our surprising findings can partly be explained by the fact that higher time preferences are associated with lower investment in extraction capability (the disinvestment effect of time preferences), and by fishers´ cognitive abilities.
自然资源使用者面临着当前消费与未来消费之间的权衡。采用有害方法或进行不可持续的开采会降低未来的消费量。因此，有理由假定，与时间偏好较低的人相比，时间偏好较高的人会更多地进行资源开采。本研究结合了实验方法和问卷调查数据，以了解个体时间偏好与渔民开采行为之间的关系。我们通过一项激励实验来得出个体的时间偏好，将由此得出的时间偏好测度与来自问卷调查的开采数据以及从一个设定框架的公共资源（CPR）实验中收集的数据联系起来。实验和问卷调查都是在桑给巴尔的个体渔民中进行的。我们的研究结果表明，时间偏好与公共资源开采之间的关系并不像古典经济理论所预测的那么简单。与早期研究不同，我们发现渔民的时间偏好与他们的开采率呈负相关。我们这一惊人的研究结果部分可以通过以下事实来解释：较高的时间偏好与较低的开采能力投资相关（时间偏好的撤资效应），以及渔民的认知能力。
