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Fair money

Public good value pricing with Karma economies


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Date

2024-07-06

Publication Type

Working Paper

ETH Bibliography

yes

Citations

Altmetric

Data

Abstract

City road infrastructure is a public good, and over-consumption by self-interested, rational individuals leads to traffic jams. Congestion pricing is effective in reducing demand to sustainable levels, but also controversial, as it introduces equity issues and systematically discriminates lower-income groups. Karma is a non-monetary, fair, and efficient resource allocation mechanism, that employs an artificial currency different from money, that incentivizes cooperation amongst selfish individuals, and achieves a balance between giving and taking. Where money does not do its job, Karma achieves socially more desirable resource allocations by being aligned with consumers' needs rather than their financial power. This work highlights the value proposition of Karma, gives guidance on important Karma mechanism design elements, and equips the reader with a useful software framework to model Karma economies and predict consumers' behaviour. A case study demonstrates the potential of this feasible alternative to money, without the burden of additional fees.

Publication status

published

Editor

Book title

Journal / series

Volume

Pages / Article No.

2407.05132

Publisher

Cornell University

Event

Edition / version

v1

Methods

Software

Geographic location

Date collected

Date created

Subject

Resource allocation; Fairness; Karma mechanism; Non-monetary markets; Artificial currencies; Public goods

Organisational unit

08686 - Gruppe Strassenverkehrstechnik check_circle
02655 - Netzwerk Stadt u. Landschaft ARCH u BAUG / Network City and Landscape ARCH and BAUG

Notes

Funding

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