Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-jr42d Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-15T19:28:13.348Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

A Behavioral Approach to the Rational Choice Theory of Collective Action: Presidential Address, American Political Science Association, 1997

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 August 2014

Elinor Ostrom
Elinor Ostrom*
Affiliation:
Indiana University
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Extensive empirical evidence and theoretical developments in multiple disciplines stimulate a need to expand the range of rational choice models to be used as a foundation for the study of social dilemmas and collective action. After an introduction to the problem of overcoming social dilemmas through collective action, the remainder of this article is divided into six sections. The first briefly reviews the theoretical predictions of currently accepted rational choice theory related to social dilemmas. The second section summarizes the challenges to the sole reliance on a complete model of rationality presented by extensive experimental research. In the third section, I discuss two major empirical findings that begin to show how individuals achieve results that are “better than rational” by building conditions where reciprocity, reputation, and trust can help to overcome the strong temptations of short-run self-interest. The fourth section raises the possibility of developing second-generation models of rationality, the fifth section develops an initial theoretical scenario, and the final section concludes by examining the implications of placing reciprocity, reputation, and trust at the core of an empirically tested, behavioral theory of collective action.

Type
Articles
Information
American Political Science Review , Volume 92 , Issue 1 , March 1998 , pp. 1 - 22
Copyright
Copyright © American Political Science Association 1998

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Abbink, Klaus, Bolton, Gary E., Sadrieh, Abdolkarim, and Tang, Fang Fang. 1996. “Adaptive Learning versus Punishment in Ultimatum Bargaining.” Discussion paper no. B-381. Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn. Typescript.Google Scholar
Abreau, Dilip. 1988. “On the Theory of Infinitely Repeated Games with Discounting.” Econometrica 80(4):383–96.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Agrawal, Arun. N.d. Greener Pastures: Exchange, Politics and Community among a Mobile Pastoral People. Durham, NC: Duke University Press. Forthcoming.Google Scholar
Alchian, Armen A. 1950. “Uncertainty, Evolution, and Economic Theory.” Journal of Political Economy 58(3):211–21.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Alchian, Armen A., and Demsetz, Harold. 1972. “Production, Information Costs, and Economic Organization.” American Economic Review 62(12):777–95.Google Scholar
Alt, James E., and Shepsle, Kenneth A., eds. 1990. Perspectives on Positive Political Economy. New York: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Andreoni, James. 1989. “Giving with Impure Altruism: Applications to Charity and Ricardian Equivalence.” Journal of Political Economy 97(12):1, 447–51, 458.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Arnold, J. E. M., and Campbell, J. Gabriel. 1986. “Collective Management of Hill Forests in Nepal: The Community Forestry Development Project.” In Proceedings of the Conference on Common Property Resource Management, National Research Council. Washington, DC: National Academy Press. Pp. 425–54.Google Scholar
Aumann, Robert J. 1974. “Subjectivity and Correlation in Randomized Strategies.” Journal of Mathematical Economics 1(03):67–96.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Axelrod, Robert. 1984. The Evolution of Cooperation. New York: Basic Books.Google Scholar
Axelrod, Robert. 1986. “An Evolutionary Approach to Norms.” American Political Science Review 80(12):1095–111.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Axelrod, Robert, and Hamilton, William D.. 1981. “The Evolution of Cooperation.” Science 211(03):1390–6.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Axelrod, Robert, and Keohane, Robert O.. 1985. “Achieving Cooperation under Anarchy: Strategies and Institutions.” World Politics 38(10):226–54.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baland, Jean-Marie, and Platteau, Jean-Philippe. 1996. Halting Degradation of Natural Resources. Is There a Role for Rural Communities. Oxford: Clarendon Press.Google Scholar
Banks, Jeffrey S., and Calvert, Randall L.. 1992a. “A Battle-of-the-Sexes Game with Incomplete Information.” Games and Economic Behavior 4(07):347–72.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Banks, Jeffrey S., and Calvert, Randall L.. 1992b. “Communication and Efficiency in Coordination Games.” Working paper. Department of Economics and Department of Political Science, University of Rochester, New York. Typescript.Google Scholar
Barkow, Jerome H., Cosmides, Leda, and Tooby, John, eds. 1992. The Adapted Mind. Evolutionary Psychology and the Generation of Culture. Oxford: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barry, Brian, and Hardin, Russell. 1982. Rational Man and Irrational Society? An Introduction and Source Book. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
Bates, Robert H. 1989. Beyond the Miracle of the Market: The Political Economy of Agrarian Development in Kenya. New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Becker, Lawrence C. 1990. Reciprocity. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Bendor, Jonathan, and Mookherjee, Dilip. 1987. “Institutional Structure and the Logic of Ongoing Collective Action.” American Political Science Review 81(03):129–54.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Benoit, Jean-Pierre, and Krishna, Vijay. 1985. “Finitely Repeated Games.” Econometrica 53(07):905–22.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Berkes, Fikret, ed. 1989. Common Property Resources: Ecology and Community-Based Sustainable Development. London: Belhaven.Google Scholar
Binmore, Kenneth. 1997. “Rationality and Backward Induction.” Journal of Economic Methodology 4:23–41.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blau, Peter M. 1964. Exchange of Power in Social Life. New York: Wiley.Google Scholar
Blomquist, William. 1992. Dividing the Waters: Governing Groundwater in Southern California. San Francisco, CA: Institute for Contemporary Studies Press.Google Scholar
Boudreaux, Donald J., and Holcombe, Randall G.. 1989. “Government by Contract.” Public Finance Quarterly 17(07):264–80.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Boulding, Kenneth E. 1963. “Towards a Pure Theory of Threat Systems.” American Economic Review 53(05):424–34.Google Scholar
Boyd, Robert, and Richerson, Peter J.. 1988. “The Evolution of Reciprocity in Sizable Groups.” Journal of Theoretical Biology 132(06):337–56.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Boyd, Robert, and Richerson, Peter J.. 1992. “Punishment Allows the Evolution of Cooperation (or Anything Else) in Sizable Groups.” Ethology and Sociobiology 13(05):171–95.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Braithwaite, Valerie, and Levi, Margaret, eds. N.d. Trust and Governance. New York: Russell Sage Foundation. Forthcoming.Google Scholar
Brennan, Geoffrey, and Buchanan, James. 1985. The Reason of Rules. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Bromley, Daniel W., Feeny, David, McKean, Margaret, Peters, Pauline, Gilles, Jere, Oakerson, Ronald, Runge, C. Ford, and Thomson, James, eds. 1992. Making the Commons Work: Theory, Practice, and Policy. San Francisco, CA: Institute for Contemporary Studies Press.Google Scholar
Bullock, Kari, and Baden, John. 1977. “Communes and the Logic of the Commons.” In Managing the Commons, ed. Hardin, Garrett and Baden, John. San Francisco, CA: Freeman. Pp. 182–99.Google Scholar
Cason, Timothy N., and Khan, Feisal U.. 1996. “A Laboratory Study of Voluntary Public Goods Provision with Imperfect Monitoring and Communication.” Working paper. Department of Economics, University of Southern California, Los Angeles.Google Scholar
Chagnon, N. A. 1988. “Life Histories, Blood Revenge, and Warfare in a Tribal Population.” Science 239(02):985–92.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chan, Kenneth, Mestelman, Stuart, Moir, Rob, and Muller, Andrew. 1996. “The Voluntary Provision of Public Goods under Varying Endowments.” Canadian Journal of Economics 29(1):54–69.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clark, Andy. 1995. “Economic Reason: The Interplay of Individual Learning and External Structure.” Working paper. Department of Philosophy, Washington University in St. Louis.Google Scholar
Coleman, James S. 1987. “Norms as Social Capital.” In Economic Imperialism: The Economic Approach Applied Outside the Field of Economics, ed. Radnitzky, Gerard and Bernholz, Peter. New York: Paragon House. Pp. 133–55.Google Scholar
Cook, Karen S., and Levi, Margaret. 1990. The Limits of Rationality. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cooper, Russell, DeJong, Douglas V.. and Forsythe, Robert. 1992. “Communication in Coordination Games.” Quarterly Journal of Economics 107(2):739–71.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cornes, Richard, Mason, C. F., and Sandler, Todd. 1986. “The Commons and the Optimal Number of Firms.” Quarterly Journal of Economics 101(08):641–6.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cosmides, Leda, and Tooby, John. 1992. “Cognitive Adaptations for Social Exchange.” In The Adapted Mind. Evolutionary Psychology and the Generation of Culture, ed. Barkow, Jerome H., Cosmides, Leda, and Tooby, John. New York: Oxford University Press. Pp. 163–228.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cosmides, Leda, and Tooby, John. 1994. “Better than Rational: Evolutionary Psychology and the Invisible Hand.” American Economic Review 84(05):327–32.Google Scholar
Crawford, Sue E. S., and Ostrom, Elinor. 1995. “A Grammar of Institutions.” American Political Science Review 89(09): 582–600.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dasgupta, Partha S. 1993. An Inquiry into Weil-Being and Destitution. Oxford: Clarendon Press.Google Scholar
Dasgupta, Partha S. 1997. “Economic Development and the Idea of Social Capital.” Working paper. Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge.Google Scholar
Davis, Douglas D., and Holt, Charles A.. 1993. Experimental Economics. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dawes, Robyn M. 1975. “Formal Models of Dilemmas in Social Decision Making.” In Human Judgment and Decision Processes: Formal and Mathematical Approaches, ed. Kaplan, Martin F. and Schwartz, Steven. New York: Academic Press. Pp. 87–108.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dawes, Robyn M. 1980. “Social Dilemmas.” Annual Review of Psychology 31:169–93.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dawes, Robyn M., McTavish, Jeanne, and Shaklee, Harriet. 1977. “Behavior, Communication, and Assumptions about Other People's Behavior in a Commons Dilemma Situation.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 35(1):1–11.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dawes, Robyn M., Orbell, John M., and van de Kragt, Alphons. 1986. “Organizing Groups for Collective Action.” American Political Science Review 80(12):1171–85.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
de Waal, Frans. 1996. Good Natured: The Origins of Right and Wrong in Humans and Other Animals. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dudley, Dean. 1993. “Essays on Individual Behavior in Social Dilemma Environments: An Experimental Analysis.” Ph.D. diss., Indiana University.Google Scholar
Edney, Julian. 1979. “Freeriders en Route to Disaster.” Psychology Today 13(12):80–102.Google Scholar
Eggertsson, Thráinn. 1990. Economic Behavior and Institutions. New York: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ekeh, P. P. 1974. Social Exchange Theory: The Two Traditions. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Ellickson, Robert C. 1991. Order without Law: How Neighbors Settle Disputes. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Elster, Jon. 1985. Sour Grapes: Studies in the Subversion of Rationality. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Emerson, Richard. 1972a. “Exchange Theory, Part I: A Psychological Basis for Social Exchange.” In Sociological Theories in Progress, ed. Berger, Joseph, Zelditch, Morris, and Anderson, Bo. Vol. 2. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. Pp. 38–57.Google Scholar
Emerson, Richard. 1972b. “Exchange Theory, Part II: Exchange Relations and Networks.” In Sociological Theories in Progress, ed. Berger, Joseph, Zelditch, Morris, and Anderson, Bo. Vol. 2. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. Pp. 58–87.Google Scholar
Farrell, Joseph. 1987. “Cheap Talk, Coordination, and Entry.” Rand Journal of Economics 18(Spring):34–9.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Farrell, Joseph, and Maskin, Eric. 1989. “Renegotiation in Repeated Games.” Games and Economic Behavior 1(12):327–60.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Farrell, Joseph, and Rabin, Matthew. 1996. “Cheap Talk.” Journal of Economic Perspectives 10(Summer):103–18.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Feeny, David, Berkes, Fikret, McCay, Bonnie J., and Acheson, James M.. 1990. “The Tragedy of the Commons: Twenty-Two Years Later.” Human Ecology 18(1): 1–19.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Frank, Robert H., Gilovich, Thomas, and Regan, Dennis T.. 1993. “The Evolution of One-Shot Cooperation: An Experiment.” Ethology and Sociobiology 14(07):247–56.Google Scholar
Frey, Bruno S. 1993. “Does Monitoring Increase Work Effort? The Rivalry with Trust and Loyalty.” Economic Inquiry 31(10): 663–70.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Frey, Bruno S. 1997. Not Just for the Money: An Economic Theory of Personal Motivation. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar.Google Scholar
Frey, Bruno S., and Bohnet, Iris. 1996. “Cooperation, Communication and Communitarianism: An Experimental Approach.” Journal of Political Philosophy 4(4):322–36.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Frohlich, Norman, and Oppenheimer, Joe. 1970. “I Get By with a Little Help from My Friends.” World Politics 23(10):104–20.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fudenberg, Drew, and Maskin, Eric. 1986. “The Folk Theorem in Repeated Games with Discounting or with Incomplete Information.” Econometrica 54(3):533–54.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fukuyama, Francis. 1995. Trust: The Social Virtues and the Creation of Prosperity. New York: Free Press.Google Scholar
Galjart, Bruno. 1992. “Cooperation as Pooling: A Rational Choice Perspective.” Sociologia Ruralis 32(4):389–407.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gambetta, Diego, ed. 1988. Trust: Making and Breaking Cooperative Relations. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.Google Scholar
Geddes, Barbara. 1994. Politician's Dilemma: Building State Capacity in Latin America. Berkeley: University of California Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gibson, Clark. N.d. Peasants, Poachers, and Politicians: The Political Economy of Wildlife in Africa. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Forthcoming.Google Scholar
Goetze, David. 1994. “Comparing Prisoner's Dilemma, Commons Dilemma, and Public Goods Provision Designs in Laboratory Experiments.” Journal of Conflict Resolution 38(03):56–86.Google Scholar
Goetze, David, and Orbell, John. 1988. “Understanding and Cooperation in Social Dilemmas.” Public Choice 57(06):275–9.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gouldner, Alvin W. 1960. “The Norm of Reciprocity: A Preliminary Statement.” American Sociological Review 25(04):161–78.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Greif, Avner, Milgrom, Paul, and Weingast, Barry R.. 1994. “Coordination, Commitment, and Enforcement: The Case of the Merchant Guild.” Journal of Political Economy 102(08):745–76.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grossman, Sanford J., and Hart, Oliver D.. 1980. “Takeover Bids, the Free-Rider Problem, and the Theory of the Corporation.” Bell Journal of Economics 11(Spring):42–64.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Güth, Werner. 1995. “An Evolutionary Approach to Explaining Cooperative Behavior by Reciprocal Incentives.” International Journal of Game Theory 24(4):323–44.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Güth, Werner, and Kliemt, Hartmut. 1995. “Competition or Cooperation. On the Evolutionary Economics of Trust, Exploitation and Moral Attitudes.” Working paper. Humboldt University, Berlin.Google ScholarPubMed
Güth, Werner, and Kliemt, Hartmut. 1996. “Towards a Completely Indirect Evolutionary Approach—a Note.” Discussion Paper 82. Economics Faculty, Humboldt University, Berlin.Google Scholar
Güth, Werner, Schmittberger, Rolf, and Schwarze, Bernd. 1982. “An Experimental Analysis of Ultimatum Bargaining.” Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization 3(12):367–88.Google Scholar
Güth, Werner, and Tietz, Reinhard. 1990. “Ultimatum Bargaining Behavior. A Survey and Comparison of Experimental Results.” Journal of Economic Psychology 11(09):417–49.Google Scholar
Güth, Werner, and Yaari, M.. 1992. “An Evolutionary Approach to Explaining Reciprocal Behavior in a Simple Strategic Game.” In Explaining Process and Change. Approaches to Evolutionary Economics, ed. Witt, Ulrich. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press. Pp. 23–34.Google Scholar
Hackett, Steven, Dudley, Dean, and Walker, James. 1995. “Heterogeneities, Information and Conflict Resolution: Experimental Evidence on Sharing Contracts.” In Local Commons and Global Interdependence: Heterogeneity and Cooperation in Two Domains, ed. Keohane, Robert O. and Ostrom, Elinor. London: Sage. Pp. 93–124.Google Scholar
Hackett, Steven, Schlager, Edella, and Walker, James. 1994. “The Role of Communication in Resolving Commons Dilemmas: Experimental Evidence with Heterogeneous Appropriators.” Journal of Environmental Economics and Management 27(09):99–126.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hamilton, W. D. 1964. “The Genetical Evolution of Social Behavior.” Journal of Theoretical Biology 7(07):1–52.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hardin, Garrett. 1968. “The Tragedy of the Commons.” Science 162(12):1243–8.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hardin, Russell. 1971. “Collective Action as an Agreeable n-Prisoners' Dilemma.” Science 16(09–October):472–81.Google Scholar
Hardin, Russell. 1995. One for All: The Logic of Group Conflict. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Hardin, Russell. 1997. “Economic Theories of the State.” In Perspectives on Public Choice: A Handbook, ed. Mueller, Dennis C.. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Pp. 21–34.Google Scholar
Hardy, Charles J., and Latane, Bibb. 1988. “Social Loafing in Cheerleaders: Effects of Team Membership and Competition.” Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology 10(03):109–14.Google Scholar
Harsanyi, John. 1977. “Rule Utilitarianism and Decision Theory.” Erkenntnis 11(05):25–53.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harsanyi, John C., and Selten, Reinhard. 1988. A General Theory of Equilibrium Selection in Games. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.Google Scholar
Hirshleifer, David, and Rasmusen, Eric. 1989. “Cooperation in a Repeated Prisoner's Dilemma with Ostracism.” Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization 12(08):87–106.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hoffman, Elizabeth, McCabe, Kevin, and Smith, Vernon. 1996a. “Behavioral Foundations of Reciprocity: Experimental Economics and Evolutionary Psychology.” Working paper. Department of Economics, University of Arizona, Tucson.Google Scholar
Hoffman, Elizabeth, McCabe, Kevin, and Smith, Vernon. 1996b. “Social Distance and Other-Regarding Behavior in Dictator Games.” American Economic Review 86(06):653–60.Google Scholar
Hollingshead, Andrea B., McGrath, Joseph E., and O'Connor, Kathleen M.. 1993. “Group Task Performance and Communication Technology: A Longitudinal Study of Computer-Mediated versus Face-to-Face Work Groups.” Small Group Research 24(08): 307–33.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Holmstrom, Bengt. 1982. “Moral Hazard in Teams.” Bell Journal of Economics 13(Autumn):324–40.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Homans, George C. 1961. Social Behavior: Its Elementary Forms. New York: Harcourt, Brace, & World.Google Scholar
Isaac, R. Mark, McCue, Kenneth, and Plott, Charles R.. 1985. “Public Goods Provision in an Experimental Environment.” Journal of Public Economics 26(02):51–74.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Isaac, R. Mark, and Walker, James. 1988a. “Communication and Free-Riding Behavior: The Voluntary Contribution Mechanism.” Economic Inquiry 26(10):585–608.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Isaac, R. Mark, and Walker, James. 1988b. “Group Size Effects in Public Goods Provision: The Voluntary Contributions Mechanism.” Quarterly Journal of Economics 103(02):179–99.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Isaac, R. Mark, and Walker, James. 1991. “Costly Communication: An Experiment in a Nested Public Goods Problem.” In Laboratory Research in Political Economy, ed. Palfrey, Thomas R.. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press. Pp. 269–86.Google Scholar
Isaac, R. Mark, and Walker, James. 1993. “Nash as an Organizing Principle in the Voluntary Provision of Public Goods: Experimental Evidence.” Working paper. Indiana University, Bloomington.Google Scholar
Isaac, R. Mark, Walker, James, and Thomas, Susan. 1984. “Divergent Evidence on Free Riding: An Experimental Examination of Some Possible Explanations.” Public Choice 43(2):113–49.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Isaac, R. Mark, Walker, James, and Williams, Arlington W.. 1994. “Group Size and the Voluntary Provision of Public Goods: Experimental Evidence Utilizing Large Groups.” Journal of Public Economics 54(05):1–36.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Keohane, Robert O. 1984. After Hegemony. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Kikuchi, Masako, Watanabe, Yoriko, and Yamagishi, Toshio. 1996. “Accuracy in the Prediction of Others' Trustworthiness and General Trust: An Experimental Study.” Japanese Journal of Experimental Social Psychology 37(1):23–36.Google Scholar
Kim, Oliver, and Walker, Mark. 1984. “The Free Rider Problem: Experimental Evidence.” Public Choice 43(1):3–24.Google Scholar
Knack, Stephen. 1992. “Civic Norms, Social Sanctions, and Voter Turnout.” Rationality and Society 4(04):133–56.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Knight, Jack. 1992. Institutions and Social Conflict. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Kollock, Peter. 1993. “An Eye for an Eye Leaves Everyone Blind: Cooperation and Accounting Systems.” American Sociological Review 58(6):768–86.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kreps, David M. 1990. “Corporate Culture and Economic Theory.” In Perspectives on Positive Political Economy, ed. Alt, James E. and Shepsle, Kenneth A.. New York: Cambridge University Press. Pp. 90–143.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kreps, David M., Milgrom, Paul, Roberts, John, and Wilson, Robert. 1982. “Rational Cooperation in the Finitely Repeated Prisoner's Dilemma.” Journal of Economic Theory 27(08):245–52.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lam, Wai Fung. N.d. Institutions, Infrastructure, and Performance in the Governance and Management of Irrigation Systems: The Case of Nepal. San Francisco, CA: Institute for Contemporary Studies Press. Forthcoming.Google Scholar
Ledyard, John. 1995. “Public Goods: A Survey of Experimental Research.” In The Handbook of Experimental Economics, ed. Kagel, J. and Roth, Alvin. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. Pp. 111–94.Google Scholar
Leibenstein, Harvey. 1976. Beyond Economic Man. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Levi, Margaret. 1988. Of Rule and Revenue. Berkeley: University of California Press.Google Scholar
Levi, Margaret. 1997. Consent, Dissent, and Patriotism. New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Lichbach, Mark Irving. 1995. The Rebel's Dilemma. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.Google Scholar
Lichbach, Mark Irving. 1996. The Cooperator's Dilemma. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Luce, R. Duncan, and Raiffa, Howard. 1957. Games and Decisions: Introduction and Critical Survey. New York: Wiley.Google Scholar
Marr, David. 1982. Vision: A Computational Investigation into the Human Representation and Processing of Visual Information. San Francisco, CA: W. H. Freeman.Google Scholar
Marwell, Gerald, and Ames, Ruth E.. 1979. “Experiments on the Provision of Public Goods I: Resources, Interest, Group Size, and the Free Rider Problem.” American Journal of Sociology 84(05): 1335–60.Google Scholar
Marwell, Gerald, and Ames, Ruth E.. 1980. “Experiments on the Provision of Public Goods II: Provision Points, Stakes, Experience and the Free Rider Problem.” American Journal of Sociology 85(01):926–37.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marwell, Gerald, and Ames, Ruth E.. 1981. “Economists Free Ride: Does Anyone Else?” Journal of Public Economics 15(11): 295–310.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marwell, Gerald, and Oliver, Pamela. 1993. The Critical Mass in Collective Action: A Micro-Social Theory. New York: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McCabe, Kevin, Rassenti, Stephen, and Smith, Vernon. 1996. “Game Theory and Reciprocity in Some Extensive Form Bargaining Games.” Working paper. Economic Science Laboratory, University of Arizona, Tucson.Google Scholar
McCay, Bonnie J., and Acheson, James M.. 1987. The Question of the Commons: The Culture and Ecology of Communal Resources. Tucson: University of Arizona Press.Google Scholar
McKean, Margaret. 1992. “Success on the Commons: A Comparative Examination of Institutions for Common Property Resource Management.” Journal of Theoretical Politics 4(07):247–82.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McKean, Margaret, and Ostrom, Elinor. 1995. “Common Property Regimes in the Forest: Just a Relic from the Past?” Unasylva 46(01):3–15.Google Scholar
McKelvey, Richard D., and Palfrey, Thomas. 1992. “An Experimental Study of the Centipede Game.” Econometrica 60(07):803–36.Google Scholar
Messick, David M. 1973. “To Join or Not to Join: An Approach to the Unionization Decision.” Organizational Behavior and Human Performance 10(08):146–56.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Messick, David M., and Brewer, Marilyn B.. 1983. “Solving Social Dilemmas: A Review.” In Annual Review of Personality and Social Psychology, ed. Wheeler, L. and Shaver, P.. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage. Pp. 11–44.Google Scholar
Messick, David M., Wilke, H. A. M., Brewer, Marilyn B., Kramer, R. M., Zemke, P. E., and Lui, Layton. 1983. “Individual Adaptations and Structural Change as Solutions to Social Dilemmas.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 44(02):294–309.Google Scholar
Milgrom, Paul R., North, Douglass C., and Weingast, Barry R.. 1990. “The Role of Institutions in the Revival of Trade: The Law Merchant, Private Judges, and the Champagne Fairs.” Economics and Politics 2(03):1–23.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Miller, Gary. 1992. Managerial Dilemmas. The Political Economy of Hierarchy. New York: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Moir, Rob. 1995. “The Effects of Costly Monitoring and Sanctioning upon Common Property Resource Appropriation.” Working paper. Department of Economics, University of New Brunswick, Saint John.Google Scholar
Morrow, Christopher E., and Hull, Rebecca Watts. 1996. “Donor-Initiated Common Pool Resource Institutions: The Case of the Yanesha Forestry Cooperative.” World Development 24(10):1641–57.Google Scholar
Mueller, Dennis. 1986. “Rational Egoism versus Adaptive Egoism as Fundamental Postulate for a Descriptive Theory of Human Behavior.” Public Choice 51(1):3–23.Google Scholar
Nowak, Martin A., and Sigmund, Karl. 1993. “A Strategy of Win-Stay, Lose-Shift that Outperforms Tit-for-Tat in the Prisoner's Dilemma Game.” Nature 364(07):56–8.Google Scholar
Oakerson, Ronald J. 1993. “Reciprocity: A Bottom-Up View of Political Development.” In Rethinking Institutional Analysis and Development: Issues, Alternatives, and Choices, ed. Ostrom, Vincent, Feeny, David, and Picht, Hartmut. San Francisco, CA: Institute for Contemporary Studies Press. Pp. 141–58.Google Scholar
Oliver, Pamela. 1980. “Rewards and Punishments as Selective Incentives for Collective Action: Theoretical Investigations.” American Journal of Sociology 85(05):1356–75.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Olson, Mancur. 1965. The Logic of Collective Action: Public Goods and the Theory of Groups. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Orbell, John M., and Dawes, Robyn M.. 1991. “A ‘Cognitive Miser’ Theory of Cooperators' Advantage.” American Political Science Review 85(06):515–28.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Orbell, John M., and Dawes, Robyn M.. 1993. “Social Welfare, Cooperators' Advantage, and the Option of Not Playing the Game.” American Sociological Review 58(12):787–800.Google Scholar
Orbell, John M., Dawes, Robyn M., and van de Kragt, Alphons. 1990. “The Limits of Multilateral Promising.” Ethics 100(04):616–27.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Orbell, John M., Schwartz-Shea, Peregrine, and Simmons, Randy. 1984. “Do Cooperators Exit More Readily than Defectors?” American Political Science Review 78(03):147–62.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Orbell, John M., van de Kragt, Alphons, and Dawes, Robyn M.. 1988. “Explaining Discussion-Induced Cooperation.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 54(5):811–9.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ostrom, Elinor. 1990. Governing the Commons: The Evolution of Institutions for Collective Action. New York: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ostrom, Elinor. N.d. “Self-Governance of Common-Pool Resources.” In The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics and the Law, ed. Newman, Peter. London: Macmillan. Forthcoming.Google Scholar
Ostrom, Elinor, Gardner, Roy, and Walker, James. 1994. Rules, Games, and Common-Pool Resources. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ostrom, Elinor, and Walker, James. 1997. “Neither Markets Nor States: Linking Transformation Processes in Collective Action Arenas.” In Perspectives on Public Choice: A Handbook, ed. Mueller, Dennis C.. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Pp. 35–72.Google Scholar
Ostrom, Elinor, Walker, James, and Gardner, Roy. 1992. “Covenants with and without a Sword: Self-Governance Is Possible.” American Political Science Review 86(06):404–17.Google Scholar
Ostrom, Vincent. 1980. “Artisanship and Artifact.” Public Administration Review 40(07–August):309–17.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ostrom, Vincent. 1987. The Political Theory of a Compound Republic: Designing the American Experiment. 2d rev. ed. San Francisco, CA: Institute for Contemporary Studies Press.Google Scholar
Ostrom, Vincent. 1990. “Problems of Cognition as a Challenge to Policy Analysts and Democratic Societies.” Journal of Theoretical Politics 2(3):243–62.Google Scholar
Ostrom, Vincent. 1997. The Meaning of Democracy and the Vulnerability of Democracies: A Response to Tocqueville's Challenge. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.Google Scholar
Ostrom, Vincent, Feeny, David, and Picht, Hartmut, eds. 1993. Rethinking Institutional Analysis and Development: Issues, Alternatives, and Choices. San Francisco, CA: Institute for Contemporary Studies Press.Google Scholar
Palfrey, Thomas R., and Rosenthal, Howard. 1988. “Private Incentives in Social Dilemmas.” Journal of Public Economics 35(04): 309–32.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Piaget, Jean. [1932] 1969. The Moral Judgment of the Child. New York: Free Press.Google Scholar
Pinker, Steven. 1994. The Language Instinct. New York: W. Morrow.Google Scholar
Pinkerton, Evelyn, ed. 1989. Co-operative Management of Local Fisheries: New Directions for Improved Management and Community Development. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press.Google Scholar
Plott, Charles R. 1979. “The Application of Laboratory Experimental Methods to Public Choice.” In Collective Decision Making: Applications from Public Choice Theory, ed. Russell, Clifford S.. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press. Pp. 137–60.Google Scholar
Pruitt, D. G., and Kimmel, M. J.. 1977. “Twenty Years of Experimental Gaming: Critique, Synthesis, and Suggestions for the Future.” Annual Review of Psychology 28:363–92.Google Scholar
Putnam, Robert D., with Leonardi, Robert and Nanetti, Raffaella. 1993. Making Democracy Work: Civic Traditions in Modern Italy. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Rabin, Matthew. 1994. “Incorporating Behavioral Assumptions into Game Theory.” In Problems of Coordination in Economic Activity, ed. Friedman, J.. Norwell, MA: Kluwer Academic Press.Google Scholar
Rapoport, Amnon. 1997. “Order of Play in Strategically Equivalent Games in Extensive Form.” International Journal of Game Theory 26(1):113–36.Google Scholar
Rocco, Elena, and Warglien, Massimo. 1995. “Computer Mediated Communication and the Emergence of ‘Electronic Opportunism.’” Working paper RCC#13659. Universita degli Studi di Venezia.Google Scholar
Roth, Alvin E. 1995. “Bargaining Experiments.” In Handbook of Experimental Economics, ed. Kagel, John and Roth, Alvin E.. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Roth, Alvin E., Prasnikar, Vesna, Okuno-Fujiwara, Masahiro, and Zamir, Shmuel. 1991. “Bargaining and Market Behavior in Jerusalem, Ljubljana, Pittsburgh, and Tokyo: An Experimental Study.” American Economic Review 81(12):1068–95.Google Scholar
Rutte, Christel G., and Wilke, H. A. M.. 1984. “Social Dilemmas and Leadership.” European Journal of Social Psychology 14(01–03):105–21.Google Scholar
Sally, David. 1995. “Conservation and Cooperation in Social Dilemmas. A Meta-Analysis of Experiments from 1958 to 1992.” Rationality and Society 7(01):58–92.Google Scholar
Samuelson, Charles D., and Messick, David M.. 1986. “Alternative Structural Solutions to Resource Dilemmas.” Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes 37(02):139–55.Google Scholar
Samuelson, Charles D., and Messick, David M.. 1995. “When Do People Want to Change the Rules for Allocating Shared Resources.” In Social Dilemmas. Perspectives on Individuals and Groups, ed. Schroeder, David A.. Westport, CT: Praeger. Pp. 143–62.Google Scholar
Samuelson, Charles D., Messick, David M., Rutte, Christel G., and Wilke, H. A. M.. 1984. “Individual and Structural Solutions to Resource Dilemmas in Two Cultures.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 47(07):94–104.Google Scholar
Samuelson, Larry, Gale, John, and Binmore, Kenneth. 1995. “Learning to be Imperfect: The Ultimatum Game.” Games and Economic Behavior 8(01):56–90.Google Scholar
Samuelson, P. A. 1954. “The Pure Theory of Public Expenditure.” Review of Economics and Statistics 36(11):387–9.Google Scholar
Sandler, Todd. 1992. Collective Action: Theory and Applications. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.Google Scholar
Sato, Kaori. 1987. “Distribution of the Cost of Maintaining Common Property Resources.” Journal of Experimental Social Psychology 23(01):19–31.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Satz, Debra, and Ferejohn, John. 1994. “Rational Choice and Social Theory.” Journal of Philosophy 91(02):71–82.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Scharpf, Fritz W. 1997. Games Real Actors Play: Actor Centered Institutionalism in Policy Research. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.Google Scholar
Schelling, Thomas C. 1978. Micromotives & Macrobehavior. New York: W. W. Norton.Google Scholar
Schlager, Edella. 1990. “Model Specification and Policy Analysis: The Governance of Coastal Fisheries.” Ph.D. diss., Indiana University.Google Scholar
Schlager, Edella, and Ostrom, Elinor. 1993. “Property-Rights Regimes and Coastal Fisheries: An Empirical Analysis.” In The Political Economy of Customs and Culture: Informal Solutions to the Commons Problem, ed. Simmons, Randy and Anderson, Terry. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield. Pp. 13–41.Google Scholar
Schneider, Friedrich, and Pommerehne, Werner W.. 1981. “Free Riding and Collective Action: An Experiment in Public Microeconomics.” Quarterly Journal of Economics 96(11):689–704.Google Scholar
Scholz, John T. N.d. “Trust, Taxes, and Compliance.” In Trust and Governance, ed. Braithwaite, Valerie and Levi, Margaret. New York: Russell Sage Foundation. Forthcoming.Google Scholar
Schroeder, David A., ed. 1995. Social Dilemmas. Perspectives on Individuals and Groups. Westport, CT: Praeger.Google Scholar
Schuessler, Rudolph. 1989. “Exit Threats and Cooperation Under Anonymity.” Journal of Conflict Resolution 33(12):728–49.Google Scholar
Sell, Jane, and Wilson, Rick. 1991. “Levels of Information and Contributions to Public Goods.” Social Forces 70(09): 107–24.Google Scholar
Sell, Jane, and Wilson, Rick. 1992. “Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire: Cheap Talk and Signalling in Repeated Public Goods Settings.” Working paper. Department of Political Science, Rice University.Google Scholar
Selten, Reinhard. 1975. “Reexamination of the Perfectness Concept for Equilibrium Points in Extensive Games.” International Journal of Game Theory 4(1):25–55.Google Scholar
Selten, Reinhard. 1986. “Institutional Utilitarianism.” In Guidance, Control, and Evaluation in the Public Sector, ed. Kaufmann, Franz-Xaver, Majone, Giandomenico, and Ostrom, Vincent. New York: de Gruyter. Pp. 251–63.Google Scholar
Selten, Reinhard. 1990. “Bounded Rationality.” Journal of Institutional and Theoretical Economics 146(12):649–58.Google Scholar
Selten, Reinhard. 1991. “Evolution, Learning, and Economic Behavior.” Games and Economic Behavior. 3(02):3–24.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Selten, Reinhard, Mitzkewitz, Michael, and Uhlich, Gerald R.. 1997. “Duopoly Strategies Programmed by Experienced Players.” Econometrica 65(05):517–55.Google Scholar
Sen, Amartya K. 1977. “Rational Fools: A Critique of the Behavioral Foundations of Economic Theory.” Philosophy & Public Affairs 6(Summer):317–44.Google Scholar
Sethi, Rajiv, and Somanathan, E.. 1996. “The Evolution of Social Norms in Common Property Resource Use.” American Economic Review 86(09):766–88.Google Scholar
Shepsle, Kenneth A., and Weingast, Barry R.. 1984. “Legislative Politics and Budget Outcomes.” In Federal Budget Policy in the 1980's, ed. Mills, Gregory and Palmer, John. Washington, DC: Urban Institute Press. Pp. 343–67.Google Scholar
Simon, Herbert A. 1985. “Human Nature in Politics: The Dialogue of Psychology with Political Science.” American Political Science Review 79(06):293–304.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Simon, Herbert A. 1997. Models of Bounded Rationality: Empirically Grounded Economic Reason. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, Vernon. 1982. “Microeconomic Systems as an Experimental Science.” American Economic Review 72(12):923–55.Google Scholar
Snidal, Duncan. 1985. “Coordination versus Prisoner's Dilemma: Implications for International Cooperation and Regimes.” American Political Science Review 79(12):923–42.Google Scholar
Tang, Shui Yan. 1992. Institutions and Collective Action: Self-Governance in Irrigation. San Francisco, CA: Institute for Contemporary Studies Press.Google Scholar
Taylor, Michael. 1987. The Possibility of Cooperation. New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Thibaut, J. W., and Kelley, H. H.. 1959. The Social Psychology of Groups. New York: Wiley.Google Scholar
Tocqueville, Alex de. [1835 and 1840] 1945. Democracy in America. 2 vols. Ed. Bradley, Phillips. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.Google Scholar
Trivers, Robert L. 1971. “The Evolution of Reciprocal Altruism.” Quarterly Review of Biology 46(03):35–57.Google Scholar
van de Kragt, Alphons, Orbell, John M., and Dawes, Robyn M.. 1983. “The Minimal Contributing Set as a Solution to Public Goods Problems.” American Political Science Review 77(03):112–22.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Walker, James, Gardner, Roy, Herr, Andrew, and Ostrom, Elinor. 1997. “Voting on Allocation Rules in a Commons: Predictive Theories and Experimental Results.” Presented at the 1997 annual meeting of the Western Political Science Association, Tucson, Arizona, 03 13–15.Google Scholar
Walker, James, Gardner, Roy, and Ostrom, Elinor. 1990. “Rent Dissipation in a Limited-Access Common-Pool Resource: Experimental Evidence.” Journal of Environmental Economics and Management 19(11): 203–11.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Williams, John T., Collins, Brian, and Lichbach, Mark I.. 1997. “The Origins of Credible Commitment to the Market.” Presented at the 1995 annual meeting of the American Political Science Association, Chicago, Illinois.Google Scholar
Yamagishi, Toshio. 1986. “The Provision of a Sanctioning System as a Public Good.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 51(1):110–6.Google Scholar
Yamagishi, Toshio. 1988a. “Exit from the Group as an Individualistic Solution to the Free Rider Problem in the United States and Japan.” Journal of Experimental Social Psychology 24(6):530–42.Google Scholar
Yamagishi, Toshio. 1988b. “The Provision of a Sanctioning System in the United States and Japan.” Social Psychology Quarterly 51(3): 265–71.Google Scholar
Yamagishi, Toshio. 1988c. “Seriousness of Social Dilemmas and the Provision of a Sanctioning System.” Social Psychology Quarterly 51(1):32–42.Google Scholar
Yamagishi, Toshio. 1992. “Group Size and the Provision of a Sanctioning System in a Social Dilemma.” In Social Dilemmas: Theoretical Issues and Research Findings, ed. Liebrand, W. B. G., Messick, David M., and Wilke, H. A. M.. Oxford, England: Pergamon Press. Pp. 267–87.Google Scholar
Yamagishi, Toshio, and Cook, Karen S.. 1993. “Generalized Exchange and Social Dilemmas.” Social Psychological Quarterly 56(4):235–48.Google Scholar
Yamagishi, Toshio, and Hayashi, Nahoko. 1996. “Selective Play: Social Embeddedness of Social Dilemmas.” In Frontiers in Social Dilemmas Research, ed. Liebrand, W. B. G. and Messick, David M.. Berlin: Springer-Verlag.Google Scholar
Yamagishi, Toshio, and Takahashi, Nobuyuki. 1994. “Evolution of Norms without Metanorms.” In Social Dilemmas and Cooperation, ed. Schulz, Ulrich, Albers, Wulf, and Mueller, Ulrich, Berlin: Springer-Verlag. Pp. 311–26.Google Scholar
Yoder, Robert. 1994. Locally Managed Irrigation Systems. Colombo, Sri Lanka: International Irrigation Management Institute.Google Scholar