Overcoming the 'tragedy of the commons': Conditonal cooperation helps in forest preservation

ScienceDaily (2010-11-13) -- According to the standard prediction large-scale cooperation in the management of commons is impossible, mainly because of free-riders. Yet, extensive field evidence indicates that many communities are able to manage their commons. Now an analysis of a major forest commons management program in Ethiopia provides first-time evidence that conditional cooperation which has been identified in many laboratory experiments before plays a key role.