Negative externalities in cropping decisions: private versus common land

Abstract

This paper analyzes to what extent the definition of property rights affects cropping decisions when these decisions generate negative externalities. To that end, we implement an experimental study where agents make cropping decisions in two different treatments: private and common land. The results show that there are no statistically significant differences between the two treatments in the contribution to the negative externality, thus revealing that the definition of property rights does not affect cropping decision in this context. Furthermore, our findings indicate that the implication of the agents in activities generating negative externalities tends to increase over time, thus amplifying its adverse consequences.