Evaluation of Cooperative Models for Carbon Pooling through Behavioural Economics

This project aims to identify the most optimal cooperative model for agricultural producers for carbon pooling in Australia through the lens of behavioural economics. This design will ensure that participating agribusinesses will receive maximum benefit and have easy, attractive, timely and social interfaces that maximize the level of engagement with the proposed solutions.

What we aim to do

In the initial phase, a systematic literature review will be conducted to identify best practices and different possibilities for cooperative frameworks. Consequently, behavioural diagnosis maps each step that a producer has to go through to meet the desired outcome in the environment where the decisions happen. Based on the behavioural map we will formulate hypotheses about the best scenario based on actual behaviour. The behavioural map will further facilitate the identification of producers’ biases as they proceed along the journey of pooling carbon credits in a cooperative model to arrive at the key behaviour. Through experimental design, we will build and test solutions for meeting the desired outcomes. The solutions will focus on removing barriers or adding benefits to the system. Their effectiveness will be tested through controlled experiments to check if we have changed the probability that someone will complete our key behaviour. Finally through Business Process Design, we will incorporate the learned insights into a new cooperative model for carbon pooling in Australia.

What we hope to achieve

The key objectives for this project are:

1. Identify viable cooperative strategies for carbon pooling in Australia
   • Systematic Literature Review – identifying currently used forms of cooperation among Australian Agribusinesses and evaluating these, based on the existing literature, for usefulness concerning agribusiness owners’ likely level of engagement and benefits.
2. Understand producers’ current behaviours and attitudes towards carbon credit forms of cooperation
   • Behavioural Diagnosis – provides insights at a granular level of the producers’ current behaviours and attitudes towards carbon credits.
3. Identify behavioural biases relevant to the potential cooperative strategies
   • Behavioural economics categorises deviations from rational choice theory. These biases will impact agribusiness engagements with the proposed modes of cooperation.
4. Design solutions for meeting key behaviours
   • Experimental design
5. Develop an optimal cooperative framework for carbon pooling by incorporating both best practices and behavioural insights
   • Based on findings in objective 1-4, develop an optimal cooperative framework for carbon pooling using Business Process Design (BPD). BPD will ensure that participating agribusinesses will receive maximum benefit and have easy, attractive, timely and social interfaces that maximize the level of engagement with the proposed solutions.

For more information about this project, please contact: best@qut.edu.au