California Air Resources Board

Collin Weigel

Behavioral economist studying how people respond to environmental policy.

Collin Weigel

Bio

Collin is a behavioral economist in the Research Division of the California Air Resources Board. He uses field experiments to study how information, incentives, and nudges affect participation in environmental programs.

His recent work evaluates ways to increase participation in a California air purifier program reaching more than 100,000 people. Earlier work includes a study of conservation practices among more than 2,000 Midwest landowners and a test of soil erosion messaging with Iowa farmers.

Appointments

  • 2020–present
    Behavioral Economist
    California Air Resources Board, Research Division
  • 2018–2020
    Postdoctoral Fellow in Behavioral Economics
    The Nature Conservancy, at Johns Hopkins University
  • 2016–2018
    Postdoctoral Fellow
    Johns Hopkins University

Education

  • 2016
    Ph.D., Economics
    University of Arizona
  • 2012
    M.A., Economics
    University of Arizona
  • 2010
    B.A., Economics and Business Management
    Pacific University

Publications

  1. 2024

    Behavioral biases among producers: Experimental evidence of anchoring in procurement auctions

    Paul J. Ferraro, Kent D. Messer, Pallavi Shukla, and Collin Weigel The Review of Economics and Statistics, 106(5), 1381–1392

  2. 2022

    Using targeted messages to improve engagement in agriculture

    Collin Weigel, Richard Cruse, and Sheila M. W. Reddy Journal of Soil and Water Conservation

  3. 2022

    A story induces greater environmental contributions than scientific information among liberals but not conservatives

    Hilary Byerly, Paul Ferraro, Tongzhe Li, Kent D. Messer, and Collin Weigel One Earth

  4. 2022

    Applying a “fail-fast” approach to conservation in US agriculture

    Chloe B. Wardropper, Laura A. Esman, Seth C. Harden, Yuta J. Masuda, Pranay Ranjan, Collin Weigel, Paul J. Ferraro, Linda S. Prokopy, and Sheila M. W. Reddy Conservation Science and Practice

  5. 2022

    Lottery incentives, citizen science, and resource management: Evidence from the Agricultural Data Reporting Incentive Program (AgDRIP)

    Ben S. Meiselman, Collin Weigel, Paul J. Ferraro, Mark Masters, Kent D. Messer, Olesya Savchenko, and Jordan F. Suter Environmental and Resource Economics

  6. 2021

    Challenges in recruiting US farmers for policy-relevant economic field experiments

    Laura Paul, Collin Weigel, Paul J. Ferraro, and Kent D. Messer Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy

  7. 2021

    Using a randomized controlled trial to develop conservation strategies on rented farmlands

    Collin Weigel, Yuta Masuda, Seth Harden, Chloe B. Wardropper, Paul J. Ferraro, Linda Prokopy, and Sheila Reddy Conservation Letters

  8. 2021

    Rented farmland: A missing piece of the nutrient management puzzle in the Upper Mississippi River Basin?

    Yuta J. Masuda, Seth C. Harden, Pranay Ranjan, Chloe B. Wardropper, Collin Weigel, Paul J. Ferraro, Sheila M. W. Reddy, and Linda S. Prokopy Journal of Soil and Water Conservation

  9. 2020

    Barriers to using economic experiments in evidence-based agricultural policymaking

    Stephanie Rosch, Sharon Raszap Skorbiansky, Collin Weigel, Kent D. Messer, and Daniel Hellerstein Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy

  10. 2020

    The problem of feral hogs and the challenges of providing a weak-link public good

    Sean F. Ellis, Mark Masters, Kent D. Messer, and Collin Weigel Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy

  11. 2020

    Conservation behavior and effects of economic and environmental message frames

    Sheila Reddy, Chloe Wardropper, Collin Weigel, Yuta Masuda, Seth Harden, Pranay Ranjan, Jacqueline Getson, Laura Esman, and Paul J. Ferraro Conservation Letters

Other Writing

Non-refereed and policy work.

  1. Calibrating performance incentives in economics experiments: A literature review of the impact of incentive payments on outcomes for common experimental methods

    Stephanie Rosch, Jacob Fooks, Daniel Hellerstein, Lori Lynch, Kent D. Messer, Sharon Raszap Skorbiansky, Collin Weigel, and Eliana Zeballos White paper, Office of Management and Budget

Working Papers

Drafts available on request.

  1. Nudging organizations: Evidence from three large-scale field experiments

    Paul J. Ferraro, Collin Weigel, James Fan, and Kent D. Messer

    PDF
  2. Underpowered studies and exaggerated effects: A replication and re-evaluation of the magnitude of anchoring effects

    Tongzhe Li, Collin Weigel, Paul J. Ferraro, and Kent D. Messer

  3. Don't stop now: An experimental investigation of the sunk cost effect

    Collin Weigel

Works in Progress

Ongoing projects at various stages.

  1. Comparative analysis of time and risk preferences of U.S. agricultural farmers and university students

    Maria Bernedo, Paul Feldman, Paul J. Ferraro, and Collin Weigel

  2. Popular experimental methods for eliciting time preferences do not yield the same conclusions: A field experiment with a national sample of adult business owners

    Paul J. Ferraro, Collin Weigel, and Maria Bernedo

  3. Effects of horizon, delays, and magnitudes on discounting by U.S. farmers and university students

    Maria Bernedo, Paul Feldman, Paul J. Ferraro, Kent D. Messer, and Collin Weigel

  4. Is justice blind? Experimental evidence on the perceptions of contributions to judicial campaigns

    Collin Weigel