Article

The Impact of Economic Uncertainty and Trust on Cooperation in Environmental Dilemmas Across Cultures

Authors
  • Poonam Arora (Manhattan College)
  • Stefan Hoeller (Manhattan College)
  • Eric Scalone (Manhattan College)
  • Tetsushi Okumura (Toyo University)
  • Nicole Peterson (UNC Charlotte)

Abstract

Climate change hasresulted in frequent and intense droughts and floods–experienced respectivelyas contexts of certain loss and uncertainty–by farmers and agribusinesses. Suchextreme water events, along with normal rainfall–experienced as certain gain-poseenvironmental dilemmas. In three studies across five countries, we examined theimpact of outcome uncertainty on choices in environmental dilemmas. Cooperationwas lowest in certain loss (droughts) and higher in certain gain (normalrainfall) in Study 1, a qualitative field study in Argentina. These resultswere experimentally replicated in the U.S. in Study 2. Study 3 empiricallyexamined cooperative choice in India, Japan, Spain, and the U.S., replicatingpatterns for drought and normal rainfall. When the outcome was uncertain(floods), however, culture appeared to moderate cooperation. Two levels oftrust (global and local) were also considered. Local trust was a significantpredictor of cooperation. Potential mechanisms, and implications are discussed.

Keywords: groundwater, certainty, cross cultural, environmental dilemmas

How to Cite:

Arora, P. & Hoeller, S. & Scalone, E. & Okumura, T. & Peterson, N., (2021) “The Impact of Economic Uncertainty and Trust on Cooperation in Environmental Dilemmas Across Cultures”, Negotiation and Conflict Management Research 14(3). doi: https://doi.org/10.34891/ra4n-pj45

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Published on
04 Jul 2021
Peer Reviewed