Alexandra Valencia Zapata - 2nd year PhD presentation

Cooperating on natural resource communities: how information infrastructures influence individual decision-making?

Info about event

Time

Tuesday 28 January 2025,  at 14:00 - 14:45

Location

2628-303

Organizer

Department of Management

Supervisors: Erik Reimer Larsen & Dorthe Døjbak Håkonsson
Discussants: Sascha Steinmann & Carsten Bergenholtz

Abstract
The management of resource commons by collaborative communities is susceptible to conflicts due to the differing beliefs of the participants. Organizations, however, can try to shape these beliefs and foster cooperation. This study explores how systems like information infrastructures, which operate without face-to-face communication, influence actors´ belief formation and cooperation around a common resource. We focused on the allocation of electricity as a common resource in isolated areas and designed laboratory and field experiments. These experiments were conducted in Colombia with undergraduate students and members of an energy community in Isla Grande, Cartagena. Through these experiments, we examined whether individuals alter their beliefs when exposed to aggregated or disaggregated information about others’ electricity consumption. Our findings offer insights into how organizational designers can encourage individuals to learn to cooperate and how beliefs about cooperation get formed and updated.

Everyone is welcome!