Humans are a puzzling species. On the one hand, we struggle to survive on our own in the
wild, often failing to overcome even basic challenges, like obtaining food, building shelters …

A hallmark of human societies is the scale at which we cooperate with many others, even
when they are not closely genetically related to us. One proposed mechanism that helps …

Cooperation among strangers has been hypothesized to have declined in the United States
over the past several decades, an alarming trend that has potential far-reaching societal …

We investigate the link between leadership, beliefs and pro-social behavior in social
dilemmas. This link is interesting because field evidence suggests that people's behavior in …

Anthropological evidence from diverse societies suggests that prestige-based leadership
may provide a foundation for cooperation in many contexts. Here, inspired by such …

The vast majority of Americans make charitable contributions. In 2000, 90 percent of US
house-holds donated on average $1,623 to nonprofit organizations. 1 Why do so many …

Organizations increasingly need to adapt to challenges in which search and coordination
cannot be decoupled. In response, many have experimented with “agile” and “flat” designs …

We examine contributions to a public good when some donors do not know the true value of
the good. If donors in such an environment determine the sequence of moves, two …

Impersonal cooperation among strangers enables societies to create valuable public goods,
such as infrastructure, public services, and democracy. Several factors have been proposed …

We conduct a controlled field experiment in 52 communities in rural Bolivia to investigate the
effect that local authorities have on voluntary public good provision. In our study, community …