Behavioral and Experimental Economics for Policy Design in the Water–Energy–Food Nexus: A Systematic Review of Methods and Applications

Abstract

Achieving universal access to safe water, reliable energy, and food security remains a global challenge, yet policy interventions often target these domains in isolation. While the Water-Energy-Food (WEF) Nexus provides a theoretical framework for resource integration, experimental evidence on behavioral interdependencies remains fragmented. This study conducts a systematic review of 37 experimental and behavioral economics articles evaluating interventions in developing and resource-scarce contexts to analyze methodological approaches and outcomes across the three sectors. Our findings reveal significant heterogeneity: Randomized Controlled Trials dominate the energy and food sectors, focusing primarily on technology adoption and subsidy effectiveness, whereas lab-in-the-field experiments are more prevalent in the water sector, emphasizing common-pool resource governance and collective action. Despite robust evidence that behavioral nudges and financial incentives boost short-term adoption and willingness to pay, the WEF Nexus remains tacit in experimental designs. Most studies treat inter-sectoral linkages as background conditions rather than central variables, missing potentially significant spillover effects between the three domains. We conclude that a transition toward “Nexus-aware” experimental designs is possible, utilizing joint metrics and longitudinal monitoring.