Economists find in large groups, money facilitates cooperation
(Phys.org) —Early human societies consisted of small, tight-knit groups of individuals who knew each other. Members probably cooperated with one another based on prior experience and the expectation that individual beneficiaries of generosity would reciprocate. However, large, modern societies depend on transactions between strangers who may have no further contact after the transaction finishes. According to research by Gabriele Camera of the Economic Science Institute at Chapman University in Orange, California and his colleagues, money allows members of a large group to maintain trust when interacting with strangers, and therefore facilitates cooperation in modern societies. The study appears in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.