Faculty Lunchtime Seminar (Prof. Ulf Dieckmann)

Title: Behavioral, Social, and Institutional Dimensions of Cooperation

Abstract: Common goods are at the heart of many challenges facing humankind. Protective measures – such as mitigating climate change or not overexploiting natural resources – are collectively beneficial, yet costly to individual stakeholders with diverse interests. Common goods may thus be jeopardized by selfish agents at all levels – be they collaborators, citizens, companies, cities, or countries – resulting in social dilemmas that often follow a pattern known as the ‘tragedy of the commons.’ Salient examples concern not only climate change and natural resources, but also clean air, civil security, social welfare, ecosystem services, land use, prudent urbanization, natural-disaster protection, demographic planning, and the functioning of the internet. In this presentation, I will illustrate how quantitative analyses can help address the behavioral, social, and institutional dimensions of these challenges, promoting cooperative collective actions and the safeguarding of common goods.

Hosted by: Faculty Talk Coordinators and Faculty Affairs Office