social interactions Flashcards
social dilemma d
actions taken by individuals in pursuit of private objectives result in inferior outcome to another feasible outcome, which could have occurred if people acted together
what is the tragedy of the commons
resources that are not owned by anyone are easily overexploited unless we control access in some way
free rider d
market failure where people take advantage of being able to use a common resource, or collective good, without paying for it
policy in the UK to reduce amount of waste that is dumped in landfill rather than being recycled
landfill tax
game theory d
branch of mathematics that studies strategic interactions, where eaach actor knows that the benefits received depends on the actions taken by all
social interaction d
where there is many people, and the actions taken by each person affects that person’s outcome - and other people’s outcomes as well
strategic interaction d
social interaction where participants are aware of the ways that their actions affect others
strategy d
an action that a person may take when that person is aware of the mutual dependence of the results for herself and for others
payoff d
the benefit to each player associated with the joint actions of all the players
best response d
the strategy that will yield the highest payoff, given the strategy the other person selects
dominant strategy d
actions that yield the highest payoff for a player, no matter what other players do
Prisoner’s dilemma d
game in which the payoffs in the dominant strategy equilibrium are lower for each player, and also lower in total than had neither player played the dominant strategy
altruism d
the willingness to bear a cost in order to benefit somebody else
social preferences d
preferences that place a value on what happens to other people, and on acting morally, even if it results in lower payoffs for the individual
zero sum game d
game in which payoffs of individuals sum to zero, for all combinations of strategies they might pursue
public good d
a good for which use by one person does not reduce its availability to others
repeated game d
game in which the same interaction may be repeated
how could the fact that some games are repeated change their outcomes
could sustain high levels of cooperation in public goods games
in a public good game what is the only way to punish free riders
by stopping contributing, this is the tragedy of the commons
when a punishment option is introduced what happens to contributions
they increase
what does the public goods experiment show
illustrates how a combination of repeated social interactions can support high levels of contribution to the public good
cooperation d
participating in a common project in such a way that mutual benefits occur
social norm d
an understanding common to most members of society about what people should do in a given situation when their actions affect others
example of social norm
finding a £100 note and splitting it 50/50
what are 3 reasons the person who picked up the money might give some to their friend
altruism,
fairness,
reciprocity
what is a sequential game
where one player chooses their strategy first, followed by the responder
what is the opposite of a sequential game
simultaneous game
what happens to the amount offered in the £100 game if there is now 2 responders
amount offered decreases because at least one person is more likely to accept
nash equilibrium d
situation in which each party is doing the best it can, given what each of the others is doing
example of Nash equilibria
both driving on the right in the us, and driving on the left in japan
what should we ask when there is two nash equilibria
which equilibrium would we expect in the real world,
is one equilibrium preferable to some players but not others
