Abstract
Irrigation water is a scarce common-pool resource in Uzbekistan, which leads to an increasing competition over its allocation among farmers. We examine how the management of this resource affects individual strategic behavior and how its availability (vis-a-vis scarcity vs. non-scarcity) impacts cooperation. We conduct a field experiment in Uzbekistan where two policies are analyzed: penalty and bonus. Our findings suggest that both penalty and bonus mechanisms are effective in reducing individual water appropriation compared to the case in which these policies are absent. However, in terms of reducing overall water appropriation, the bonus mechanism is the most effective in preserving the resource stock. Therefore, policymakers should have a degree of flexibility regarding the selection of a mechanism to reduce water consumption. We also find that subjects exhibit different appropriation behaviors depending on their location within the irrigation system, with upstream users being more sensitive to water reduction than downstream users.
Highlights
Uzbekistan is a double-landlocked, arid country that depends heavily on irrigated agriculture
Irrigation water is a constrained common pool resource in Uzbekistan that leads to an increasing competition over water allocation among farmers
If such inefficient use of water resources continues, which focuses on agricultural output and ignores environmental impacts, the Uzbek’s agricultural sector will be negatively affected
Summary
Uzbekistan is a double-landlocked, arid country that depends heavily on irrigated agriculture. The agricultural sector is dominated by state-funded programs designed to ensure cotton and wheat production, since 85 percent of cultivated acreage is devoted to these two crops [1]. Water shortages that can significantly reduce production are becoming more frequent and severe, and threaten to undermine the agricultural sector, which accounts for 19 percent of the coun-. An analysis of individual strategic behavior in allocating water resources is, necessary in this arid region. This study seeks to identify potential solutions for the wasteful water allocation among farmers, as well as to prevent the devastating environmental and economic damages that could result from a future depletion of the country’s water resource
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