This article explores the collective action problem of disease prevention by developing the conditions under which people engage in private means of mosquito control and malaria prevention. People are more likely to overcome problems related to collective action and free riding when they face...

This paper develops an economics-based explanation regarding the coordinating role informal norms play in preventing infectious diseases, with particular reference to HIV in the United States. Specifically, it highlights the way in which a set of informal norms, described as “the condom...

This paper reviews the economic literature on epidemiology, explores the collective action problem associated with disease prevention, and highlights the diverse formal and informal institutions that encourage preventative behavior. Within institutions of private sector firms, liability law, and...

In the absence of capable government services, a railroad company in Texas and cotton mills in North Carolina successfully prevented malaria in the early twentieth century. This essay looks through the lens of economics to understand how and why people had the incentive to privately coordinate...