The Effects of Communication on the Partnership Solution to the Commons

Buckley, NJ; Mestelman, S; Muller, RA; Schott, S; Zhang, J

The Effects of Communication on the Partnership Solution to the Commons

Buckley, NJ Mestelman, S Muller, RA Schott, S Zhang, J

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Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: Environmental and Resource Economics, 2018, 70 (2), pp. 363 - 380
Issue Date:: 2018-06-01

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Buckley, NJ	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Mestelman, S	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Muller, RA	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Schott, S	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Zhang, J https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3274-5245	en_US
dc.date.available	2020-05-25T19:03:38Z
dc.date.issued	2018-06-01	en_US
dc.identifier.citation	Environmental and Resource Economics, 2018, 70 (2), pp. 363 - 380	en_US
dc.identifier.issn	0924-6460	en_US
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/83403
dc.description.abstract	© 2017, Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht. Organizing individual appropriators into output sharing groups has been found to effectively solve the tragedy of the commons problem. We experimentally investigate the robustness of this solution by introducing different channels of communication that naturally arise from group competitions. In the absence of communication, we confirm that output sharing can introduce sufficient free riding to offset over-harvesting and results in full efficiency. Allowing local communication within output-sharing groups substantially decreases this efficiency enhancement because it reduces free riding and boosts between-group competition. Yet the efficiency level is still significantly higher than that achieved when global communication is allowed among all appropriators in a conventional common pool resource without output sharing. The efficiency-reducing effect of local communication is mitigated when random partners instead of fixed partners are sharing output over time, and is nearly eliminated when random partners are formed with users who belong to different communication groups.	en_US
dc.relation.ispartof	Environmental and Resource Economics	en_US
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.1007/s10640-017-0124-9	en_US
dc.subject.classification	Agricultural Economics & Policy	en_US
dc.title	The Effects of Communication on the Partnership Solution to the Commons	en_US
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.citation.volume	2	en_US
utslib.citation.volume	70	en_US
utslib.for	0502 Environmental Science and Management	en_US
utslib.for	1402 Applied Economics	en_US
utslib.for	1499 Other Economics	en_US
pubs.embargo.period	Not known	en_US
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Business
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Business/Economics Discipline
utslib.copyright.status	open_access
pubs.issue	2	en_US
pubs.publication-status	Published	en_US
pubs.volume	70	en_US

Abstract:

© 2017, Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht. Organizing individual appropriators into output sharing groups has been found to effectively solve the tragedy of the commons problem. We experimentally investigate the robustness of this solution by introducing different channels of communication that naturally arise from group competitions. In the absence of communication, we confirm that output sharing can introduce sufficient free riding to offset over-harvesting and results in full efficiency. Allowing local communication within output-sharing groups substantially decreases this efficiency enhancement because it reduces free riding and boosts between-group competition. Yet the efficiency level is still significantly higher than that achieved when global communication is allowed among all appropriators in a conventional common pool resource without output sharing. The efficiency-reducing effect of local communication is mitigated when random partners instead of fixed partners are sharing output over time, and is nearly eliminated when random partners are formed with users who belong to different communication groups.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/83403