Figure 10.1: Three neighbors in a cul-de-sac, Bo, Luke, and Daisy, have an option of contributing or not contributing to paying for and installing outdoor security lighting to help make their cul-de-sac safer. For each person who contributes, one security light will be installed. The payoff matrix for this scenario is shown above.
-Refer to Figure 10.1. The dominant strategy for ________ is to not contribute.

Question

Figure 10.1:  Three neighbors in a cul-de-sac, Bo, Luke, and Daisy, have an option of contributing or not contributing to paying for and installing outdoor security lighting to help make their cul-de-sac safer. For each person who contributes, one security light will be installed. The payoff matrix for this scenario is shown above.
-Refer to Figure 10.1. The dominant strategy for ________ is to not contribute.

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

In a game theory context, a dominant strategy is one that is best for a player, regardless of what strategies other players choose. If all players have a dominant strategy to not contribute, it implies that for each of them, not contributing yields a better outcome than contributing, regardless of the actions of the others. This is often the case in public goods and collective action problems, where individual rationality leads to an outcome where everyone is worse off than if they had cooperated (a dilemma often illustrated by the Prisoner's Dilemma). Without seeing Figure 10.1, this explanation applies generally to scenarios where non-contribution is a dominant strategy for all involved.

Figure 101: Three Neighbors in a Cul-De-Sac, Bo, Luke, and and Daisy