Environmental transitions face the challenge of incentivizing change and governing complexity. Changing perceptions is critical to address these challenges. Perceptions shape policy and directly determine the potential and pathway of environmental transitions. While often addressing risk perception, economists rarely study perceptions in regard of policy process and change. Social-Ecological System components interdependencies drive dynamics and potential for sustainability. We elicit the perceptions of these interdependencies, offering a comprehensive understanding of the mechanisms at stake by measuring three dimensions of perceptions: likelihood, intensity and polarization. Then, we investigate the mechanisms determining the perceptions, and the association of interdependencies perception with policy preferences. Empirically, human activities related to water serve as a case for investigation. We develop an original measurement of perception using a survey that puts the emphasis on the perceived interdependencies between water activities, while most of the literature measures the importance attributed to each activities. We focus on the 19 principal water-related human activities in the Geneva region, i.e., a system of 342 relations. Results show important variations in perception. This variation depends on individuals characteristics, and nature of water-related activities. Higher perceptions environmental externalities associate with preferences for broader participation and more stringent policy instruments, like precautionary principle.

中文翻译：

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您是否认为与水有关的人类活动之间存在相互依赖性？参与和监管偏好的驱动因素和影响


环境转型面临着激励变革和治理复杂性的挑战。改变观念对于应对这些挑战至关重要。观念塑造政策并直接决定环境转型的潜力和路径。虽然经济学家经常讨论风险认知，但很少研究有关政策过程和变化的认知。社会生态系统组成部分的相互依赖性推动了可持续发展的动力和潜力。我们得出对这些相互依赖关系的看法，通过衡量看法的三个维度：可能性、强度和极化，提供对所涉机制的全面理解。然后，我们研究决定感知的机制，以及相互依赖感知与政策偏好的关联。根据经验，与水有关的人类活动可以作为研究的案例。我们通过一项调查开发了一种原始的感知测量方法，该调查强调水上活动之间感知的相互依赖性，而大多数文献则测量每项活动的重要性。我们重点关注日内瓦地区19项与水相关的主要人类活动，即342个关系的系统。结果显示感知存在重要差异。这种差异取决于个人特征以及与水相关的活动的性质。对环境外部性的更高认知与更广泛参与和更严格的政策工具（例如预防原则）的偏好相关。