Spatially explicit framed field experiments on ecosystem services governance

Economic experiments have been advocated as an innovative research method to identify cause-and-effect relationships in social–ecological systems. In this short communication, we discuss the feasibility and practicality of introducing spatial and temporal dynamics into experiments with stakeholders in the field. We draw on our experience from an experiment conducted with 212 farmers in Indonesia. We find some potential of our approach to reduce artificiality and to enhance realism. Yet, this realism comes at the cost of a more complex data structure. Among other things, we discuss how our approach may be useful in multi-method research designs and as a tool for stakeholder communication.

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