Backstory: Ariel Zucker Bergquist on Price Incentives for Conservation

About this episode

Ariel Zucker discusses her research on price incentives for conservation and the challenges of conducting fieldwork.

Riccardo speaks with Ariel Zucker, Assistant Professor of Economics at UC Santa Cruz, about her paper “Price Incentives for Conservation: Experimental Evidence from Groundwater Irrigation.” The conversation explores the logistical challenges of running a large-scale field intervention, the lessons learned from multiple pilot attempts, and the trade-offs graduate students often face when conducting fieldwork on a tight budget. It concludes with a broader reflection on what draws Ariel to her field of research and to academia more generally. You can find the working paper (coauthored with Nick Hagerty) here: https://www.arielzucker.net/_files/ugd/2eee53_ed03d0df4bfb4e5694b95deb022c6768.pdf

People in this episode

Host: Riccardo

Guest: Ariel Zucker

Topics covered

• price incentives
• conservation
• groundwater irrigation
• field intervention
• academic research

Keywords

• conservation
• economics
• fieldwork
• graduate students
• experimental evidence

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: UC Santa Cruz

Books & works: Price Incentives for Conservation: Experimental Evidence from Groundwater Irrigation

More episodes of Backstory: How Research Papers in Economics Get Made

• Backstory: Gautam Rao on Democracy, Diffusion, and and the Long Game of Research · May 28, 2026 · 30 min
• Backstory: Claudia Allende on School Choice and Competition in Chile · May 26, 2026 · 29 min
• Backstory: Manaswini Rao on Dispute Resolution in India · April 20, 2026 · 32 min
• Backstory: Claudio Ferraz on When Democracy Refuses to Die · April 8, 2026 · 30 min
• Andre Gray on Density and Diversity in African Cities · April 7, 2026 · 21 min
• Backstory: Fulvia Budillon on Facility Birth and Early-Life Mortality in Malawi · December 2, 2025 · 28 min