Collective Action, Common Property Forests, Communities, and Markets

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2008

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Abstract

"Collective action theory seeks to understand how groups of individuals are able to cooperate to overcome social dilemmas, assuming that being a self-interested, short-term maximizer is the default position. The behavioral approach to collective action begins with an evolutionary argument: human beings have evolved the capacity to learn cooperation norms and social regulations which have enhanced the success of groups. In this view, individual rational action is just one of a suite or a continuum of behaviors from the very individual to the very social which human beings exhibit and which can be adaptive in different circumstances. It further suggests that the default position may be cooperation, which can then be withdrawn if there is no reciprocity. Whether cooperation or individual actions dominate depends heavily on the social context."

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collective action, social dilemmas, cooperation, resource management

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