Community social capital and status: The social dilemma of food waste

In developed countries, the largest share of food is wasted at household level. Household waste results from a complex interaction between economic factors, well-established routines, and social norms. To explain this interaction, we propose simple model behavior where individual costs generated by wasting are counterbalanced security status through acquiring excess food, thus causing dilemma. This trade-off mediated capital, which measures intensity with each within community evaluates negative effects waste. We test model's hypotheses using 2016 dataset behaviors opinions Italian households, merge variables known to elicit local level capital. find levels be negatively related Contrastingly, concerns respect lack organizational abilities both more prevalent in low capital areas, increased relationship income.