Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
884139 | Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization | 2010 | 11 Pages |
Two collective action problems plague successful revolution. On the one hand, would-be revolutionaries confront a “participation problem,” whereby no rationally self-interested individual has an incentive to participate in rebellion. On the other hand, individuals face a “first-mover problem” whereby no rationally self-interested individual has an incentive to lead rebellion. This paper argues that 18th-century merchant sailors who confronted these problems devised a novel institution to facilitate maritime revolution and assist them in overthrowing abusive captains. This institution was called a “Round Robin.” Round Robins helped overcome both the participation and first-mover problems by aligning the interests of individual sailors desiring mutiny and restructuring the payoffs of leading versus following maritime rebellion.