Title: Collective action problem | Britannica
Headings: Collective action problem
Collective action problem
The challenges of common goods
Game theory

Content: It is well known among game theorists that once the two-person game is repeated over and again, there is a multiplicity of stable equilibriums, of which some involve cooperation and some do not. If the game is played by more than two people and network effects are allowed (that is, players can see how others are playing with third parties), then one should expect both cooperation and free riding. Thus, game theory shows that collective action is indeed a problem. People do not automatically work together to promote their collective interests, but neither is it impossible. Indeed, depending on the conditions, one should expect varying levels of collective action. In other words, there is not a single collective action problem but a host of collective action problems that share common features. Therefore, as one would expect, there are numerous ways in which people learn to overcome the particular collective action problems they face in order to work together. The tedium of organizing a school fete is not the same as the dangers inherent in taking part in collective protest or revolution, but both are collective acts subject to free riding. Described below are the types of demand-side problems that arise in collective action and the sorts of supply-side solutions that are adopted to overcome them. It will be seen that both the problems and the solutions are interlinked and interrelated.