#2: Jan 9th 2011 at 10:02:09 AM
Well, if we're discussing "overcoming the problem" we have to recognize where the problem costs us. If you want an empirical analysis of the problem, you have to also have a strict analysis of the costs.
It's interesting to think of it in broader terms, but I'm not sure what sort of answer you're looking for when you do.
Also, how the Free Rider problem applies sort of changes based on whether you're discussing something like natural resources compared to discussing, say, patents.
edited 9th Jan '11 10:05:32 AM by TheyCallMeTomu
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#3: Jan 9th 2011 at 10:05:20 AM
The innate desire for justice is one mechanism.
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Let us discuss the free rider problem
, in a broadly social rather than narrowly economic sense.
The problem is as such: the optimum situation for an individual is to live in a society where he has absolute liberty but everyone around him can be relied on to be peaceful, honest and, in short, constrained to act pro-socially. So each individual has incentives to uphold the system's demands on everyone else while cheating for himself. What mechanisms do we know, empirically, work to overcome this "cheater" problem?
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