Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/204417 
Year of Publication: 
2017
Series/Report no.: 
IFRO Working Paper No. 2017/13
Publisher: 
University of Copenhagen, Department of Food and Resource Economics (IFRO), Copenhagen
Abstract: 
The Ethiopian food for work program typically induces forest conservation work. While economic outcomes have been studied before, little is known about the program's environmental impact. We run a choice experiment among Ethiopian farmers eliciting preferences in a hypothetical afforestation program that mimics the Ethiopian food-for-work program. We find that introducing food incentives decreases willingness to participate in the program and participation rate increases with an increase in the proportion of individuals selected for food incentive. We also find that the crowding-out effect is stronger when food incentive recipients are selected based on income compared to lottery-based selection. Our data points to pro-social signaling as the most likely channel for the crowding-out effect. These results suggest that (1) food-for-work programs could have unintended negative environmental effects and (2) directions for design reform that could mitigate this.
Subjects: 
Crowding-out
Food-for-work program
Pro-environmental behavior
Selection
Pro-social signaling
JEL: 
D03
D64
D82
Q57
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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