Uncertainty, Belief Bias, and Nudges in Forest Harvesting: Evidence from a Young Fruiting Body Experiment

This paper uses a young fruiting body harvesting experiment to examine how uncertainty affects improper behavior and how two nudges, prior selection and consequence viewing, can mitigate or shape this behavior. Uncertainty promotes improper harvesting, with harvesting rates higher under ambiguity than under risk. It also induces belief bias, yet this bias drives behavior only when consequences are observable. Prior selection reduces harvesting through an anchoring mechanism, whereas consequence viewing alone has little effect. Notably, combining the two nudges produces a boomerang effect: harvesting rates rise above those observed under prior selection alone. These findings inform behavioral interventions for natural resource management.