Doruk Iriş, Professor of the Department of Economics Publishes Joint Research Paper in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS)
Doruk İriş, Professor of the Department of Economics at this university recently contributed to the collection and analysis of data as a co-author on the paper titled “The Private Solution Trap in Collective Action Problems across 34 Nations.”
The “private solution trap” refers to a phenomenon that occurs when individuals facing a shared risk choose to invest in individualistic and exclusive measures to protect themselves rather than contributing to a collective solution that benefits everyone. Using a specially designed economic game involving 7,504 participants from 34 countries, the research team investigated how wealth inequality and cultural values shape this behavior. This is one of the largest multicultural behavioral economics experiments conducted to date.
The analysis revealed that wealthy participants, regardless of whether their wealth resulted from effort or luck, chose individual solutions nearly twice as often as low-income participants. This pattern was consistently observed across all 34 countries surveyed, and as wealth inequality within a group increased, low-income participants were left completely unprotected due to the collapse of the collective solution.
Interestingly, cultural values also influenced individual choices. The cultural value of harmony promoted group solutions, whereas the values of hierarchy and mastery were more strongly associated with individual solutions.
However, the research team also made positive findings. They determined that conditional cooperation in response to others’ cooperative behavior and early contributions can lead to successful collective action, regardless of cultural background.
This study offers direct implications for resolving global crises, including international climate negotiations. It empirically demonstrated that when wealthy nations or individuals opt out of collective solutions by pursuing individual adaptation measures (such as building coastal barriers, inducing artificial rainfall, or relocating), the political will for global mitigation collapses and inequality deepens.
Professor Doruk İriş highlighted the significance of this study, stating, “By identifying the universal cooperation pathway of early contributions and conditional cooperation, we can provide concrete policy guidelines for climate agreements, public health responses, and the design of international cooperation systems.” The universality of the findings from this study, which covered 34 countries, increases the likelihood that these guidelines can be applied globally.
Meanwhile, Professor Doruk İriş focuses his research on behavioral economics and currently serves as president of the National Association of Foreign Scholars in Korea (NAFSIK).
▶Paper Link: https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2504632123
[SEO Keyword]
Private solution trap, Collective action problems, Behavioral economics
The “private solution trap” refers to a phenomenon that occurs when individuals facing a shared risk choose to invest in individualistic and exclusive measures to protect themselves rather than contributing to a collective solution that benefits everyone. Using a specially designed economic game involving 7,504 participants from 34 countries, the research team investigated how wealth inequality and cultural values shape this behavior. This is one of the largest multicultural behavioral economics experiments conducted to date.
The analysis revealed that wealthy participants, regardless of whether their wealth resulted from effort or luck, chose individual solutions nearly twice as often as low-income participants. This pattern was consistently observed across all 34 countries surveyed, and as wealth inequality within a group increased, low-income participants were left completely unprotected due to the collapse of the collective solution.
Interestingly, cultural values also influenced individual choices. The cultural value of harmony promoted group solutions, whereas the values of hierarchy and mastery were more strongly associated with individual solutions.
However, the research team also made positive findings. They determined that conditional cooperation in response to others’ cooperative behavior and early contributions can lead to successful collective action, regardless of cultural background.
This study offers direct implications for resolving global crises, including international climate negotiations. It empirically demonstrated that when wealthy nations or individuals opt out of collective solutions by pursuing individual adaptation measures (such as building coastal barriers, inducing artificial rainfall, or relocating), the political will for global mitigation collapses and inequality deepens.
Professor Doruk İriş highlighted the significance of this study, stating, “By identifying the universal cooperation pathway of early contributions and conditional cooperation, we can provide concrete policy guidelines for climate agreements, public health responses, and the design of international cooperation systems.” The universality of the findings from this study, which covered 34 countries, increases the likelihood that these guidelines can be applied globally.
Meanwhile, Professor Doruk İriş focuses his research on behavioral economics and currently serves as president of the National Association of Foreign Scholars in Korea (NAFSIK).
▶Paper Link: https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2504632123
[SEO Keyword]
Private solution trap, Collective action problems, Behavioral economics