Spatially-coordinated conservation auctions under imperfect information about ecological spillovers

Increasing attention is being paid to the design of economic incentives for conservation on private land to encourage spatial coordination. We investigate the effects of using incorrect information on the ecological benefits of spatial coordination in the design of a conservation auction, using a framed field experiment with real farmers as participants. We find that auction performance can be substantially weakened if the parameters adopted are ‘wrong enough’ to change which farms are prioritised for enrolment in a conservation contract. Parameters that under-estimate the true coordination benefits are less damaging to policy performance than those which over-estimate these benefits.