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You probably mean the "Cobra Effect", a form of perverse incentive[0]: The term "cobra effect" was coined by economist Horst Siebert based on an anecdote of an
by Natfan 5y ago
You probably mean the "Cobra Effect", a form of perverse incentive[0]:
The term "cobra effect" was coined by economist Horst Siebert based on an anecdote of an occurrence in India during British rule. The British government, concerned about the number of venomous cobras in Delhi, offered a bounty for every dead cobra. Initially, this was a successful strategy; large numbers of snakes were killed for the reward. Eventually, however, enterprising people began to breed cobras for the income. When the government became aware of this, the reward program was scrapped. When cobra breeders set their now-worthless snakes free, the wild cobra population further increased.
[0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perverse_incentive https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perverse_incentive
- bambax 5y agoThere is the exact same story about rats in Indochina during the French occupation. In fact the stories are so similar that one wonders if they were not specially crafted to demonstrate the incompetence of the colonial rulers.
- smitty1e 5y agoI read somewhere that when scholars offered per-piece bounties on ancient manuscripts found in caves, the herdsmen scouring the caves would drive up their profit by cutting up the finds. Incentives work.