All in together? How communities contribute to school meals programs

When communities are asked to contribute their time or money to shared goals—like running a school meal program—the success of these efforts often depends on how people respond to one another’s choices. If most people give more time and effort when others do, cooperation can spread. But if people hold back when they see others contributing, cooperative efforts may falter. In economics, this concept is called “conditional cooperation,” and it has been almost exclusively studied using laboratory games in wealthy countries, often with university students—far from the realities of rural life in places where public goods depend heavily on donations and volunteering.