In this paper, I investigate the joint impacts of top-down targets and social opprobrium on aggregate compliance with government mandates for resource conservation. I use data on urban water usage, local agency enforcement, and reports of water waste by private citizens in California during a period of severe drought in which a year-long mandate for water conservation was imposed. During the mandate, private citizens engaged in opprobrium by “drought shaming” customers engaged in “water waste.” I find that increases in complaints regarding water waste led to increases in follow-up actions by local agencies, increased levels of cumulative water conservation, and increased compliance with state-mandated targets. The findings suggest that private citizen involvement in the form of social opprobrium is an important aspect of local agency compliance.

在本文中，我调查了自上而下的目标和社会谴责对总体遵守政府资源保护指令的共同影响。我使用了有关城市用水、地方机构执法以及加利福尼亚州私人公民在严重干旱期间的水资源浪费报告的数据，期间实施了为期一年的节水任务。在任务期间，普通公民通过“干旱羞辱”从事“水浪费”的客户进行谴责。我发现，关于水资源浪费的投诉增加导致当地机构采取更多后续行动，提高累积节水水平，并提高对国家规定目标的遵守程度。调查结果表明，公民个人以社会谴责的形式参与是地方机构合规的一个重要方面。