ABSTRACT
International action to address global climate change presents a social dilemma in which the interests of individual countries do not correspond to the interests of the global community. In the absence of appropriate institutions, voluntary actions to address climate change by countries will fall short of the actions needed to achieve desired outcomes. The analysis and design of institutions to coordinate voluntary actions are important for understanding how countries may overcome this social dilemma. Related research has mostly focused on the performance of exogenous institutions; however, in the case of international climate agreements there is no governing body that can impose and enforce a set of rules on a group of countries. Because nations are sovereign, any institutional arrangement created to facilitate sufficient action to address climate change has to be developed endogenously.
