Center for Behavior, Institutions and the Environment / CBIE Working Papers / Keeping up shared infrastructure on a Port of Mars: An experimental study

Keeping up shared infrastructure on a Port of Mars: An experimental study

Abstract

In this study, we present a new game, Port of Mars, that allows for the study of collective action in extreme environments. The game is situated in the first‐generation habitat on Mars, to provide an engaging narrative of a collective action problem under high uncertainty. This pilot study finds that most groups are able to avoid the collapse of the habitat and that the existence of thresholds makes groups risk‐averse. The game demonstrates the initial outcomes of a transdisciplinary project that could provide new ways of studying governing the commons under high uncertainty, and a potential educational game for coping with commons dilemmas.

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Published December 13, 2019

Marco A. Janssen, Arizona State University

Lance Gharavi, Arizona State University