Research Themes
The Center for the Study of Institutional Diversity has five major research foci:
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Robustness of social-ecological systems: What attributes of social-ecological systems affect their robustness, and what are the mismatches between institutional arrangements and ecological dynamics?
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Innovation: How do individuals craft new institutional arrangements? And how does this relate to the past experiences of those individuals dealing with commons dilemmas?
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Cooperation: How has human cooperation evolved over time? What economic and environmental conditions encourage reciprocal, altruistic, or trusting behavior? How does cooperative behavior vary across cultures and time?
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Path dependence: How does the history of institutional change and ecological dynamics affect the future of social-ecological systems?
- Scale: How is the performance of institutions affected by dynamics at various spatial and temporal scales?
