Equity–Efficiency Optimizing Resource Allocation: The Role of Time Preferences in a Repeated Irrigation Game |
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| Authors: | Bjorn Van Campenhout Ben D'Exelle Els Lecoutere |
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| Affiliation: | 1. International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI – Kampala), Kampala, Uganda;2. School of International Development, University of East Anglia, UK;3. Conflict Research Group, Ghent University, Belgium |
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| Abstract: | We study repeated water allocation decisions among small scale irrigation users in Tanzania. In a treatment replicating water scarcity conditions, convexities in production make that substantial efficiency gains can be obtained by deviating from equal sharing, leading to an equity–efficiency trade‐off. In a repeated game setting, it becomes possible to reconcile efficiency with equity by rotating the person who receives the largest share, but such a strategy requires a longer run perspective. Correlating experimental data from an irrigation game with individual time preference data, we find that less patient irrigators are less likely to use a rotation strategy. |
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