Trust levels in relation to profit, for future transactions were examined using an experiment intended to represent key aspects of agistment, an informal system in which kin and social networks are used to move livestock from areas of drought. Test participants were from Australia. It was recognized that land and livestock management, requiring adaptive management, cannot be specified completely by legal contract. Participants, operating on privately owned rangelands, chose anonymous partners, with the first entrusting virtual money to the second, who then decided how much to return. There were two treatments. In the control an interaction was complete once the first and second participant had transferred money. In the second treatment, participants assigned a public knowledge rating to their partners at the conclusion of each round. The number of rounds to be completed was not revealed to participants. The amount of the second transfer was multiplied by four.
Citations and enhanced abstracts for journals articles and documents focused on rangeland ecology and management. RSIS is a collaboration between Montana State University, University of Idaho, and University of Wyoming.