I provide a broad overview of the findings reported in the articles submitted for this special volume on experimental studies of social dilemma problems. I start by providing a synopsis of where current research stands on this topic. Then I go on to discuss the specific papers and how those papers extend our knowledge in this area and add value to the current state of the art.

A wide range of situations in life can be thought of as social dilemmas which pose tension between cooperation and self-interest. Such situations range from voting; to contributions to charities and public goods; to managing common pool resources; to even tackling global warming and climate change. In all these situations individuals face a trade-off: cooperation makes everyone better off, but as long as enough others cooperate in order to achieve the goal, then individual self-interest suggests free-riding on the cooperation of others. If enough participants give in to this inherent incentive for free-riding then sustaining cooperation is infeasible.