Residential water conservation during drought: Experimental evidence from three behavioral interventions

• DOI: 10.1016/j.jeem.2021.102519
• Publication Date: 2021-08-26T09:29:42Z
• Authors: Katrina Jessoe; Gabriel E. Lade; Frank Loge; Edward Spang
• Keywords: Mandate

This paper deploys a framed field experiment and uses high-frequency data to evaluate the short- long-run effects of three behavioral interventions on residential water use during extreme drought. Our study Home Water Reports (HWRs) hourly yields main results. First, even when layered top 25% drought conservation mandate, HWRs led 4 5%. Second, across variants HWRs, profile is similar, suggesting that households did not respond messaging or recommendations contained in HWRs. Third, effect all dissipated five months after intervention ended. In our setting, these align with utility incentives achieve immediate but temporary response