Three Essays On Decision Making In Natural Resource Economics

Abstract: The first two chapters look at differences between individual and group decision-making in economic environments. Using laboratory experiments the first chapter shows that group preferences for self-interest differ from those of individuals, but the direction and magnitude depends on the procedure governing how groups make decisions. The second chapter looks at the dynamics of group decision-making, which leads to an argument for looking at group decisions through the lens of reciprocity. The third chapter focuses on country level trends in agriculture to empirically investigate whether countries that increase agricultural productivity increase or decrease land in agriculture.