Cooperation and household water consumption

Abstract

Decisions regarding household potable water consumption are interdependent, in search of individual welfare, implied and with no incentive to deviate. Some households can make moderate use of the resource, while others waste water recklessly. Those who make moderate use, knowing that others do so in excess, are not encouraged to continue the moderation; meanwhile, those who use potable water in excess, know others are moderate and therefore have not reason to decrease it. As a result, there is a social dilemma of common-pool resources (CPR), where there is an excessive consumption, exerting more pressure on supplying ecosystems. However, through an interaction system reproduced indefinitely, such social dilemma is solved by introducing a concept of cooperation in which all households obtain maximum individual satisfaction and society reduces pressure on water sources.