Sara E. Adler Mandelbaum, Ph.D.
Research
My primary research areas are Behavioral & Experimental Economics and Environmental & Natural Resource Economics. My secondary research interests include Public Choice and Political Economy.
My research uses experimental and behavioral economics to address interesting environmental economics questions. Currently, I am examining the impacts of governmental policies on the depletion of natural resources.
Job Market Paper
Effects of Threshold Uncertainty on Common-Pool Resources
Many natural and common-pool resources have inherent thresholds determining the onset of deleterious environmental impacts. Group and individual behavior were examined in an experimental setting designed to model common-pools with thresholds using three distinct treatments: one with Complete Threshold Information, one with Incomplete Threshold Information and one with Sporadically Enforced Targets. By design the true threshold was unknown to the players in the role of policymaker, and the guesses of the threshold value were allowed to change during every round. Sporadically enforced targets had a significant negative effect on the lifespan of a common-pool resource and individual gains. Allowing the participants to develop and act on their own beliefs for the location of the threshold improved both individual benefit and conservation of the common-pool. These experiments indicate that conservation of common-pool resources will be best achieved through policies which allow users of the resource access to reliable information regarding the status of the common-pool and which enable users to develop and act on their own beliefs regarding the location of threshold.
Publications
Challenges to Measuring, Monitoring, and Addressing the Cumulative Impacts of Artisanal and Small-Scale Gold Mining in Ecuador. Resource Policy. 38 (2013) 713-722 with Rebecca Adler Miserendino, Bridget A. Bergquist, Sara E. Adler, Jean Remy Davée Guimarães, Peter S.J. Lees, Wilmer Niquen, P. Colon Velasquez-López, Marcello M. Veiga
Understanding cumulative impacts of ASGM in Ecuador (2013)Paper presented at the 33rd Annual Conference of the International Association for Impact Assessment, Calgary, Alberta, Canada with Colón Velásquez López, Rebecca Adler Miserendino, Bridget A. Bergquist, Sara E. Adler, Jean R.D. Guimarães,Peter S.J. Lees, Wilmer Niquen, Marcello M. Veiga
Current Projects
Heterogeneous Agents and the Effects of Threshold Uncertainty on Common Pool Resource Depletion [E-Mail for Manuscript]
Kicking the Can: Elected Officials, Threshold Uncertainty, and Common Pool Resource (Mis)management with J. Forest Williams
