How do states punish those who do not produce public goods?
Takeaway Points
- The repeated prisoner’s dilemma tells us that states can maintain cooperation through the threat of grim trigger strategies.
- The non-excludable nature of public goods makes it difficult to directly punish free riders.
- Free riding as punishment for others free riding is an ineffective countermeasure, as a single bad apple can spoil the bunch.
- Issue linkage—tying other areas of cooperation to public goods provision—resolves the problem.