What cooperative behaviour for farmers? Challenging experimental economics with field investigationOriginal Title (non-English) Quel comportement cooperatif chez les agriculteurs irrigants ? L'economie experimentale a l'epreuve du terrain [French]

摘要

Many developing countries are committed to a decentralization process of their irrigation system. Farmers have to self-govern their productive activities. Such developments raise the usual challenges of cooperation in collective action providing collective goods. The aim of this investigation is to examine farmers' cooperative behavior. For this purpose, we set up a public good experiment. Public good games are relevant to investigate cooperative behavior. Game theory predicts a free riding strategy as a best reply to the strategic issue of the game. The player maximizes his welfare by benefiting from the effort provided by other members of his group. Experimentation shows that subjects are more cooperative than the theoretical prediction. However, they learn to free ride during the experiment. Several critics are addressed to such experiments, especially concerning the issue of external validity of the results. The aim of this investigation is to conduct an experiment with farmers in order to examine their cooperative behavior. The experiment shows that farmers reach a higher level of cooperation that is sustained over time.