PROPOSAL FOR BEHAVIORAL ECONOMIC EXPERIMENTS FOR THE EVALUATION OF COOPERATIONS FOCUSED ON SUSTAINABILITY (Atena Editora)

Abstract

The present work aims to present a proposal for evaluating the intention of cooperation and measuring the trust between a hydroelectric power plant and the local stakeholders in projects focused on sustainability, based on behavioral economic theory. The case of a hydroelectric plant was used, considering the multiplicity of local groups that are influenced by this project, such as fishermen, neighboring residents, indigenous people, farmers and sediment collectors. It is understood that these are groups whose participation in initiatives aimed at sustainability can be fundamental for the preservation of the environment. Such stakeholders were identified from the analysis of secondary documents and personal interviews with managers of the Itaipu plant. For this proposal, public goods concern the preservation of the protection strip; the ichthyofauna and its commercial potential; the preservation of indigenous culture; the maintenance of water quality in the reservoir and microbasins in the region, as well as agricultural crops. It is argued that the recognition of the determinants of the decision of these groups to cooperate and trust can be fundamental, especially in moments of negotiation and bargaining between those involved, in addition to providing information for the improvement of the contractual instruments that guide the relations between the stakeholders and the plant, and to minimize the possibilities of conflicts and mismatches of expectations between the parties. Finally, the advantages of the experimental methodology are presented, especially of the field experiments in view of the heterogeneity of the groups.