We provide a framework for analyzing collective action in contentious contexts such as protests or revolutions when individuals are uncertain about the relative payoffs of the status quo and revolution. We model the "calculus of protest" of individuals who must decide whether to submit to the...

Uncertainty in payoffs is a central feature of collective action in contentious contexts such as protests and revolutions. We integrate payoff uncertainty into a model of collective action. We model the “calculus of protest” of individuals who must decide whether to submit to the status quo...

Explaining the evolution and maintenance of cooperation among unrelated individuals is one of the fundamental problems in biology and the social sciences. Recent experimental evidence suggests that altruistic punishment is an important mechanism to maintain cooperation among humans. In this...