Results Rounds 1 + 2 and 1 − 10
For a first analytical step, we compared the average individual harvests per round per village (
Figure 1).
Figure 1.
Comparing average individual harvests per round per village.
Figure 1.
Comparing average individual harvests per round per village.
Calculating average total extractions across villages for the whole game the average extraction was 5.99 FR (Std. Dev. 0.82). In the course of the game, extraction levels were slightly decreasing. During the first 10 rounds average extractions ranged rather above total average with a sinking trend and during the additional treatments ranged largely below of it, indicating a slight impact of additional costly and competitive monitoring [
16]. Although external punishment can lead to a crowding-out effect [
29] most experimental studies suggest, that monitoring and sanctioning decreases free riding substantially and that these measures lead to socially more profitable outcomes, even when punishment is costly for players [
30,
31,
32]. As hypothesized extractions were neither at Nash equilibrium nor at social optimum, however they were also not increasing over time. Distinguishing between villages it is apparent that extraction values in villages where the film had been screened were clearly higher than in villages where the film had not been screened (
t-test between groups significant at the 10%-level). In fact the villages where only film or both film and community forest are known range at the upper end of extractions while especially for the first rounds of the game the villages where the film had not been screened range below that.
That means that the hypothesis 4 of an overlap of film and community forests towards the least extractive behavior could not be verified. Furthermore it suggests that the film might not have the expected effect of adding up to already existing knowledge and benefits from community forests but may rather offer knowledge based incentives for slightly higher extractions. Only comparing the results for film
vs. no film confirms the same results (see
Figure 2).
Figure 2.
Comparing average individual harvests per round for villages with and without awareness film (AF).
Figure 2.
Comparing average individual harvests per round for villages with and without awareness film (AF).
Only comparing the results of community forests shows little difference for the first 10 rounds, however it seems that with the introduction of additional treatments the villages without prior experience of CF show a less extractive reaction (see
Figure 3).
We will have a close look especially at the first two rounds, as they would promise the purest results in regards to the village-comparison effects. This is the case because after round one for the first time players will have a real impression of how their own extractive behavior relates to the unknown extractions of the other players affecting the community resources. That means until then the decision should be most unbiased from other peoples’ actions and might be influenced by personal experiences of AF and CF.
Looking at round one as the first monetary real-life decision situation unbiased by a learning experience during the game we perceive a difference between the respective villages of 1.4 FR for AF (individual extraction significantly different at the 10% level) and only a difference of 0.1 FR for CF. Hypothesizing that the first real life round would be perceived as a starting point for a learning experience during the game one could argue that in case that players would be uncertain about a choice of strategy at this stage the second round would offer a significant opportunity to adapt. While first round extractions in all cases are especially high, in the second round levels decrease. However, in both cases we do find this trend happening in parallel.
Figure 3.
Comparing average individual harvests per round for villages with and without community forests (CF).
Figure 3.
Comparing average individual harvests per round for villages with and without community forests (CF).
The aggregated statistical analysis based on averages is the standard strategy. However, since it might mask some individual effects we had a closer look on the variety of group and individual player strategies integrating ethnographic background knowledge. Following our hypotheses we should find AF and/or CF effects on player behavior differing between villages. We closely investigated player behavior in the first and second round, especially the variation from first to second round.
Clustering and classifying the first round contributions around the general game-average of 5.99 FR into low (below 5 FR), medium (between 5 and 10 FR) and high extractions (above 10 FR) makes potential village differences visible (
Figure 4). Apparently in a situation of no previous real-game experience people who extract a high amount of resources are rather equally distributed. In the three villages that had contact with either AF or CF a medium extraction seems to be the dominant strategy. In the village where neither AF nor CF took place the largest group decided for low first-round-harvest while in the opposite case, contact with AF and CF, the large majority decided for a medium extraction. Looking at changes from first to second round it is apparent that in all villages a readjustment process towards a rather similar picture took place. However, again in the village No AF/no CF there remained the largest number of low extractors while the number of high-level extractors dropped sharply. In the village AF/CF the number of high-level extractors increased as well. This process might be interpreted again as an indicator that the instruments of AF and CF might have an influence on the distribution of player types.
We disaggregated the step from first to second round further into (a) balanced extractions (amount and thus strategy staying the same) and (b) extractions changing towards increase or decrease (high–medium–low). What becomes clearer, is that in all villages a broad mix of reactions/new decisions takes place, and that there is no significant difference between villages. In all villages, decreases of medium level extractions or increases of low level extractions towards a leveling as observed above took place. Furthermore, in all villages there are a small number of players sticking precisely with the chosen strategy (called balanced). Additionally, in all villages at least one player chooses to increase his already high-level extractions while this tendency is strongest in village AF+CF where also the least high-extractors decrease their extractions and no low level extractors further decrease their harvest. Furthermore, there is a tendency among a larger fraction of the group of low extractors in the village No AF/no CF to increase their extractions.
Figure 4.
Comparing clustered first round and second round contributions.
Figure 4.
Comparing clustered first round and second round contributions.
What becomes apparent looking at the harvesting strategies in the subsequent eight rounds is the fact that it is possible to identify certain player personalities [
16]. A distinction was taken between free-riders (people who regularly overharvest and after 10 rounds had an average personal gain of above 10 FR), experimenters (people who clearly experiment between all sorts of extractions from very high to very low, average extractions ranging usually above midrange players), midrange players who follow either a balanced or experimental strategy with medium level extraction having an average extraction between 5 and 10 FR) and low extractors or altruists (people who either have a balanced or experimental strategy of small extractions averaging around or below 5 FR). Comparing the step from first to second round and then classifying the decisions taken in the following eight rounds we also find a high congruence—that means a high stability of strategies through the first 10 rounds of the game—in 95 cases being well distributed across all player types and all four villages. Among the remaining 25 players we find a large fraction of 13 persons who clearly experimented across the ten rounds between all sorts of extractions. One person, a headman, started out with low extractions and during the course of the game turned into a full free-rider.
In
Figure 5 we illustrate the distribution of player types across villages in an aggregated way and by only grouping the single types. Results indicate that the main player types, namely free-riders, midrange players, and low-players appear in all villages. Freeriders can be further disaggregated into stable freeriders (persons who clearly and constantly extracted high amounts) and experimental freeriders (persons who often extracted high amounts but also had few rounds with lower extractions).
Though not depicted here we find that these types are distributed across gender and ages. However, it is apparent that in the two villages where the awareness film was not shown there are more low player/altruists and in the village No AF/no CF we find the least freeriders. In sum, one might carefully argue that the awareness film might bear some incentive on especially the low players to rather experiment or at least secure a midrange “share of the cake”. In sum however we have to conclude that comparing villages neither AF nor CF have a clear short term effect on personal extraction strategies which seem to be rather informed by personality, surrounding culture, communication and economic pressure.
Figure 5.
Classified and clustered player types and single groups of player types per village.
Figure 5.
Classified and clustered player types and single groups of player types per village.
This equally important message that under game conditions, an artificial situation with bounded anonymity liberated from communication, a lot of players followed rather stable individual strategies will be further traced. Post-game interviewing was destined to shed some additional light on players immediate (self-)perceptions. In an aggregated form, these data have limited explanatory power for individual differences in strategies. 99% of the participants enjoyed the game experience and the way they played which was mainly incited by the fact that they won money. Equally, 99% voiced the conviction that illegal harvesting of valuable forest species is a serious problem that makes them angry and that natural resource management and protection are of importance. Meanwhile on average players judged the status of the village resources to be 2.3—that is ranging between good = 2.0 and ok = 3.0. However, also 97.5% of the participants were convinced that traditional authorities do enough to prevent the consequences of logging.
Interestingly, only 60.8% were intending to talk about their strategy after the game and only 25.8% intended to compare their gains with others. These data indicate that a basic awareness of resource problems and personal responsibilities as part of collective responsibilities exists in a post-game situation (see
Table 2).
Table 2.
Percieved responsibilities for natural resource protection.
Table 2.
Percieved responsibilities for natural resource protection.
Who is, in your opinion, responsible to protect natural resources in your village? (N = 120) |
---|
Myself | 7 |
Government | 2 |
Trad. Authorities | 10 |
Community | 33 |
Dept. of Forestry | 12 |
All together | 56 |
However, as much as an awareness film and the promotion of community forests as tools of a natural resource protection discourse and industry create necessary incentives and knowledge, they also create deference effects, the internalization of the socially acceptable and ecologically “correct answers” [
25].
To limit especially such deference and acquiescence effects and to approach real-life decision-making these data have to be accomplished with ethnographic background knowledge which can be provided by looking at a few exemplary players cases as embedded into social and cultural background. For the question of effects of awareness and control on forest harvesting especially the group of freeriders having the strongest impact on the common resource base [
16], and strong altruists, potentially having an impact as social models in a real-life setting of high social interaction and communication are most interesting. Likewise, we will look at certain key individuals as political leaders and community forest officials.
In the whole sample we found one unconditional altruist who consequently targeted at the social optimum by extracting 0 FR through all ten rounds. Konstantinus H. (pseudonym—like all names) was 35 years old at the time of the game, a married catholic father of three, head of his own household in the village AF/no CF, where he had been residing for nine years. He had attended school for nine years, had learned a bit of English as a mine-contract-laborer and was living mainly off subsistence farming like the majority of game participants. He was a member of the Village Development Committee (VDC) but at several encounters apart from the game had regretted a lack of cooperation within communities. He had watched the film with great enjoyment like the majority of fellow villagers but had not taken a dominant position in the subsequent discussion. He had answered the post-game questions in the same tenor as many other villagers, expressing enjoyment about the game but ecological concerns. However, being a rather modest and shy person he had also stated that he would not talk to others about his strategy but would compare gains with others. The fact that he was the only one consequently targeting the social optimum, while certainly aware of the extractive behavior of many others, is an indicator of his conscious decision. However, talking openly about a deviant moral behavior is risky as it can be perceived as a overly pro-social behavior that can cause anti-social sanctions [
33], something we found in rounds 11–20 as well and will report elsewhere. Thus, Konstantinus represents a player type grounded in rural subsistence with deep convictions, which however would not lead to an overtly pro-social attitude. His rather low gains of 19N$ which he was moderately satisfied with were intended to support his family with small scale items like washing powder.
Konstantinus played in the same session as Severinus G., a 24 year old young man and son of the local headwoman who had accomplished grade 12 in school, a rare and costly achievement under rural conditions. He was intending, with the strong support of his mother, to use his qualification for a future outside of village life and farming, a strategy that at one time would turn him into a remittance giver, a highly valued source of cash and thus social security. Severinus played as a full-scale free rider, who extracted the maximum of 20 points almost in every session. Like the abundant majority, he also expressed his concerns about future problems of resource overharvesting in the post game survey, and claimed to have learned something about appropriate harvesting and resource management. He expressed that in the village one has to be careful not be taken advantage of. During the game he entirely relied on a selfish strategy that earned him 42 N$ and made him the top earner of the whole game. He intended to talk about his strategy and openly showed his gains, which he planned to invest into credit for his cell phone.
Looking at socioeconomic background, age and gender, the two men are no outliers or untypical cases. There are family fathers and young men among other personality types. Strong freeriders—emphasizing the necessity for natural resource protection and the learning effects of the game—were present as well. Anastasia U. (35), a woman who was known to be in constant need of cash as she liked to drink alcohol, and had spent her whole life in the village as a farmer, had her own household and four years of education, intended to talk about her strategy and stated that she planned to invest her gains into small scale items like washing powder; Gloria, K. (19), a well-educated and outspoken young single mother and farming household member, for one year in the village, with nine years of schooling; and Gerald S. (39), a very popular local teacher staying in the village for nine years, with a regular salary, fluent in English, with extensive knowledge about natural resource management, a role model for the youth and active in several committees.
The heterogeneity of free-rider biographies can as well be found looking at other villages. Noteworthy is the observation that in two villages, AF/no CF and No AF/no CF the headman/woman, members of the traditional authority followed a clear free riding strategy, a potential indicator for the self-perception of local elites as privileged, as in the case of Severinus. Furthermore, in the villages AF/CF and No AF/CF members of the community forest management committees were also participating. In AF/CF Marcus H. a fully trained and engaged committee chairman, who had played a strong role in consulting the making of the film and always acted as a member of the rule-enforcing institution, turned out to be an experimenter under game conditions with an average extraction of 7.7 FR and a maximum extraction of 16 FR in round 3. Interestingly, Evaristus M., also a member of AF/CF, who was known to be a very experienced local contract timber-harvester, which means a man who has performed illegal harvesting many times and was accustomed to a very low salary, played a rather humble experimentalist strategy with an average extraction of 5.6 FR and a maximum extraction of 15 FR once in round 5.
To sum up experiment results from the first 10 rounds: We find no clear difference of the effects of AF and/or CF on harvesting behavior at a village level. On average extractions of villagers in all villages are rather low, however the impact of certain experimental and free riding personality- or player-types on resources is fairly equally distributed among villages. As there are hardly any players targeting the social optimum, it seems that strategies of low players are mainly influenced by convictions of securing “a share of the cake” while not daring to overharvest under game-conditions. These strategies were confirmed in follow up interviews. Especially the self-regarding personalities called freeriders are less influenced by the instrumental impacts of AF and CF but rather prepared to take risks. They seem follow personal experiences, aspirations and the incentives of a transforming socio-economic context. Unscrupulousness and selfishness were given as explanations by villagers for the occurrence of free-riders in follow up interviews. One could discuss whether the fact that some villages got in contact with ‘modern’ resource protection strategies as especially the film also has side-effects, inciting the wish to participate in the broader chain of transactions that is being depicted, and thus in a more personalized gambling strategy. Likewise, it is possible to view the findings as indicative of the fact that strategies are highly personalized and that in a very influential situation of not only ecological but as well social and economic challenges the anonymity of the game situation offers additional freedom to decouple individual choice from either problem awareness and the social control-setting.