Tying, Entrepreneurship, and Associations Help

Tying, entrepreneurship, and associations are general conditions under which people can voluntarily provide mosquito control and resolve collective action problems. This chapter discusses these conditions in theoretical terms and discusses numerous examples where such conditions were relevant. Tying refers to the provision of a collective good, like mosquito control, that requires the purchase of a private good, like a house, which limits free riding. Examples of tying as a means of mosquito control include decisions to purchase and maintain property, migrate, and develop residential neighborhoods. Entrepreneurship refers to the creation of goods and services people value, which encourages producers of mosquito control. Entrepreneurial responses range from mosquito control firms to retailers like Home Depot. Associations refer to the organizations of civil society, whereby people pool resources and work toward common goals. Such responses were common in the northern United States during the early twentieth century as people wanted to improve property values, attract neighbors, and limit mosquito populations. Examples of associations range from the work of the Twentieth Century Club of Long Island to associations in post-World War II Japan. These conditions and cases suggest mosquito control can be voluntarily provided and that the incentives people face vary depending on context.