Envy - holding back development

Innovating, or trying something new, takes a lot of courage
© WRENmedia

An experimental game which allows participants to destroy the money of other players, by spending a smaller amount of their own money, has revealed the destructive force of envy in hindering agricultural innovation. Dr Bereket Kebede explains more about his research in four Ethiopian villages, which found that people were ready to invest around 10% of their money in decreasing the money of others, even though this gave them no financial benefits and actually reduced the amount of money they took home once the game finished. He draws lessons, in terms of how agricultural innovations should be introduced within communities.