The Logic of Collective Action in Large Groups

SES-1058236Brent Simpson 南卡罗来纳大学 至少从 20 世纪 60 年代开始，社会科学家就认为，大群体在组织成功的集体行动方面比小群体面临更大的问题。尽管许多研究人员对这一最初的推理提出了质疑，并且关于为什么群体规模会损害成功的集体行动的争论仍在继续，但大多数集体行动学者都同意这一点。自然环境中的实证研究和精心控制的实验室实验支持了群体规模和集体行动之间预测的负相关关系。重要的是，系统比较表明，即使为群体做出贡献的客观激励保持不变，群体规模也会对合作产生负面影响，而且人们认为大群体不如小群体有效，即使在大群体客观上更有效的情况下也是如此。 当然，现实世界中也存在大量贡献者的集体行动。因此，问题是大群体如何克服与群体规模相关的问题，以实现他们的共同利益。这里提出的答案是基于群体规模问题的一个紧急解决方案：较大的群体是从成功的较小的集体行动中成长起来的。他们通过从小事做起获得收益。也就是说，团体利用最初小团体的较高贡献，并随着团体规模的扩大而继续这些较高贡献。调查员将进行三项实验室实验，旨在测试该论点的关键含义。第一个实验解决了公共物品规定背景下的基本论点（人们必须贡献私人资源来生产所有人都可以使用的公共物品）。第二个实验将研究扩展到几个方向。首先，它将在公共池资源（人们必须避免过度获取公共资源）的背景下测试针对群体规模问题的拟议解决方案。此外，第二个实验将解决“市场”的作用。集体行动团体，人们在其中决定加入哪个团体。研究者假设市场有助于进一步促进成功的小型集体行动团体成长为成功的大型集体行动的机制。第三个实验使用更大的群体来测试这个论点。更广泛的影响：除了从理论上理解群体规模问题以及大群体如何能够实现其共同利益的重要性之外，该研究还具有许多更广泛的影响。从地方到全球层面，群体和社会面临的许多最重要的问题都涉及公共产品的生产（例如，公共媒体的维护、血液和器官供应的创造和维护）或公共资源的保护（健康和富有成效的森林和水道）。公共物品和共同池资源带来的集体行动问题在更大的群体中会更加严重。因此，随着社会继续相互联系，我们面临的集体行动问题变得越来越全球化，这使得了解大群体实现共同利益的过程（以及它们不能实现共同利益的条件）变得更加重要。除了这些更广泛的社会影响外，该研究还将为研究生和本科生提供教育和培训。

SES-1058236Brent SimpsonUniversity of South Carolina At least since the 1960s social scientists have argued that large groups face greater problems than small groups in organizing successful collective actions. While many researchers have taken issue with this original reasoning and there is continuing debate about why group size impairs successful collective action, most collective action scholars agree that it does. Empirical studies in natural settings and carefully controlled laboratory experiments support the predicted negative relationship between group size and collective action. Importantly, systematic comparisons show that group size negatively affects cooperation even when the objective incentive to contribute to the group is held constant, and that people perceive large groups to be less efficacious than small groups, even under conditions in which large groups are objectively more efficacious. Of course, there are collective actions with large numbers of contributors in the real world. The question is thus how large groups overcome the problems associated with group size to realize their common interests. The answer proposed here is based on an emergent solution to the group size problem: Larger groups grow out of successful smaller collective actions. They so by capitalizing on the gains from starting small. That is, groups harness the higher contributions of initially small groups and continue those higher contributions as they grow larger. The investigator will conduct three laboratory experiments designed to test key implications of the argument. The first experiment addresses the basic argument in the context of public goods provisions (where people must contribute private resources to produce a public good available to all). The second experiment extends the research in several directions. First, it will test the proposed solution to the group size problem in the context of common-pool resources (where people must refrain from overharvesting from publicly owned resources). In addition, the second experiment will address the role of a ?marketplace? of collective action groups, in which people make decisions about which group to join. The investigator hypothesizes that marketplaces help further catalyze the mechanisms through which successful small collective action groups grow into successful large collective actions. The third experiment tests the argument using larger groups. Broader Impacts: In addition to the importance of gaining a theoretical understanding of the group size problem, and how large groups are able to realize their common interests, the research has a number of broader impacts. Many of the most important problems facing groups and societies, from the local to the global level, entail the production of public goods (e.g., maintenance of public media outlets, the creation and maintenance of blood and organ supplies) or the preservation of commons (healthy and productive forests and waterways). The collective action problems posed by public goods and common pool resources are exacerbated in larger groups. Thus, as societies continue to become interlinked, the collective action problems we face become increasingly global, making it even more important to understand the processes through which large groups can realize common interests (and the conditions under which they do not). In addition to these societal-level broader impacts, the research will provide education and training of graduate and undergraduate students.