Fairness in water consumption experiments: understanding burden-sharing preferences and conservation beliefs
| dc.contributor.advisor | Visser, Martine | |
| dc.contributor.author | Ghoor, Imaan | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2026-06-23T12:38:15Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2026-06-23T12:38:15Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2026 | |
| dc.date.updated | 2026-06-23T12:35:16Z | |
| dc.description.abstract | The increasing impacts of climate change have intensified water insecurity, posing significant challenges for major cities in developing countries. Cape Town, South Africa, experienced its most severe drought in four centuries, highlighting the vulnerability of urban water systems to prolonged shortages. Although the city has since recovered, concerns regarding long-term water security persist. Addressing these challenges necessitates a comprehensive approach that integrates both demand and supply management strategies. A critical component of effective policy design is an understanding of public preferences regarding the distribution of responsibility for water conservation, ensuring that burden-sharing mechanisms are both equitable and sustainable. This study is among the first to apply experimental methods to examine equity preferences for urban water conservation in a developing country, bridging a gap in the literature. Using a sample of 315 Cape Town residents, the study investigates how beliefs, policy preferences, and how cultural theory of risk shape fairness and burden-sharing preferences for water use. Key findings show that low-endowment players favoured principles that minimised individual contributions, such as the equal water use principle. High-endowment players demonstrated more complex patterns, with preferences influenced by education and policy attitudes. Burden-sharing principles did not significantly influence high- endowment players contributions in the first stage of the experiment. Similarly, the cultural theory of risk principles did not significantly impact contributions in the first stage of the experiment but emerged as important determinants of preferences in the second stage, with individualism and egalitarianism playing key roles. The study highlights the need for water conservation policies that reflect socioeconomic diversity and fairness norms to foster cooperation and equity. | |
| dc.identifier.apacitation | Ghoor, I. (2026). <i>Fairness in water consumption experiments: understanding burden-sharing preferences and conservation beliefs</i>. (). University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Commerce ,School of Economics. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/11427/43365 | en_ZA |
| dc.identifier.chicagocitation | Ghoor, Imaan. <i>"Fairness in water consumption experiments: understanding burden-sharing preferences and conservation beliefs."</i> ., University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Commerce ,School of Economics, 2026. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/43365 | en_ZA |
| dc.identifier.citation | Ghoor, I. 2026. Fairness in water consumption experiments: understanding burden-sharing preferences and conservation beliefs. . University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Commerce ,School of Economics. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/43365 | en_ZA |
| dc.identifier.ris | TY - Thesis / Dissertation AU - Ghoor, Imaan AB - The increasing impacts of climate change have intensified water insecurity, posing significant challenges for major cities in developing countries. Cape Town, South Africa, experienced its most severe drought in four centuries, highlighting the vulnerability of urban water systems to prolonged shortages. Although the city has since recovered, concerns regarding long-term water security persist. Addressing these challenges necessitates a comprehensive approach that integrates both demand and supply management strategies. A critical component of effective policy design is an understanding of public preferences regarding the distribution of responsibility for water conservation, ensuring that burden-sharing mechanisms are both equitable and sustainable. This study is among the first to apply experimental methods to examine equity preferences for urban water conservation in a developing country, bridging a gap in the literature. Using a sample of 315 Cape Town residents, the study investigates how beliefs, policy preferences, and how cultural theory of risk shape fairness and burden-sharing preferences for water use. Key findings show that low-endowment players favoured principles that minimised individual contributions, such as the equal water use principle. High-endowment players demonstrated more complex patterns, with preferences influenced by education and policy attitudes. Burden-sharing principles did not significantly influence high- endowment players contributions in the first stage of the experiment. Similarly, the cultural theory of risk principles did not significantly impact contributions in the first stage of the experiment but emerged as important determinants of preferences in the second stage, with individualism and egalitarianism playing key roles. The study highlights the need for water conservation policies that reflect socioeconomic diversity and fairness norms to foster cooperation and equity. DA - 2026 DB - OpenUCT DP - University of Cape Town KW - Cape Town drought KW - water conservation KW - burden-sharing KW - cultural theory of risk LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PB - University of Cape Town PY - 2026 T1 - Fairness in water consumption experiments: understanding burden-sharing preferences and conservation beliefs TI - Fairness in water consumption experiments: understanding burden-sharing preferences and conservation beliefs UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11427/43365 ER - | en_ZA |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/11427/43365 | |
| dc.identifier.vancouvercitation | Ghoor I. Fairness in water consumption experiments: understanding burden-sharing preferences and conservation beliefs. []. University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Commerce ,School of Economics, 2026 [cited yyyy month dd]. Available from: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/43365 | en_ZA |
| dc.language.iso | en | |
| dc.language.rfc3066 | eng | |
| dc.publisher.department | School of Economics | |
| dc.publisher.faculty | Faculty of Commerce | |
| dc.publisher.institution | University of Cape Town | |
| dc.subject | Cape Town drought | |
| dc.subject | water conservation | |
| dc.subject | burden-sharing | |
| dc.subject | cultural theory of risk | |
| dc.title | Fairness in water consumption experiments: understanding burden-sharing preferences and conservation beliefs | |
| dc.type | Thesis / Dissertation | |
| dc.type.qualificationlevel | Masters | |
| dc.type.qualificationlevel | MCom |