The collective-risk social dilemma and the prevention of simulated dangerous climate change.

ABSTRACT: Will a group of people reach a collective target through individual contributions when everyone suffers individually if the target is missed? This "collective-risk social dilemma" exists in various social scenarios, the globally most challenging one being the prevention of dangerous climate change. Reaching the collective target requires individual sacrifice, with benefits to all but no guarantee that others will also contribute. It even seems tempting to contribute less and save money to induce others to contribute more, hence the dilemma and the risk of failure. Here, we introduce the collective-risk social dilemma and simulate it in a controlled experiment: Will a group of people reach a fixed target sum through successive monetary contributions, when they know they will lose all their

SUBMITTER: Milinski M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2268129 | biostudies-literature | 2008 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature