What Motivates Common Pool Resource Users? Experimental Evidence from the Field

This paper develops and tests several models of pure Nash strategies of individuals who extract from a common pool resource when they are motivated by a combination of selfinterest and preferences for altruism, reciprocity, inequity aversion and conformity. Using data from a series of common pool resource experiments conducted in three rural areas of Colombia, we test whether an econometric summary of the subjects’ pure Nash strategies is consistent with one or more of these models. We find that a model that balances self-interest with a strong preference for conformity best describes average strategies. Our results are inconsistent with a model of pure self-interest, as well as models that combine self-interest with individual preferences for altruism, reciprocity and inequity aversion. JEL Classification: C93, D64, H41, Q20, C70