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...

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...