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
