Governments are the bodies responsible for solving the problems of the citizens, working for the people and administering the state on behalf of the people. While governments sometimes solve problems alone, sometimes they use the public as a mediator. Of course, using the public as an intermediary is not always the right way.
Today, we are with you, trying to solve current problems together with the public, making things even worse; We will talk about the cobra effect, which was born in India and then witnessed many examples in the world.
Definition of cobra effect
The most general definition of cobra effect (perverse incentive), or cobra effect; Solutions applied to solve an existing problem create bigger problems.
Although the term cobra effect is generally used in fields such as politics and economics, it is a term that can be used in any field when appropriate.
The story of the cobra effect
India’s second largest city, Delhi, which was ruled under the auspices of the United Kingdom for nearly 90 years between 1858 and 1947 There is a cobra. Also called the Indian cobra, this venomous snake species is not uncommon, especially for people from the UK.
Realizing that the locals are more courageous against cobras, the government, when it realizes that it cannot cope with the cobras, issues a circular stating that “each cobra brought dead will be paid”. Of course, the citizens who hear this hunt the cobras around them and get their money.
However, man is man everywhere and humans are greedy creatures. Vigilant citizens breed cobras to earn more money, and despite all the hunted cobras, government officials observe an increase rather than a decrease in cobra numbers. A short time later, the government realizes that citizens deliberately increased the number of cobras in order to earn more money, and announced that it had canceled the bounty program.
Where the cobra effect started
The story was normal so far but because the government removed the bounty program, people stopped hunting cobras, which means more in Delhi than before. led to the existence of the cobra. So the government now had an even bigger problem in the past.
Use of the term cobra effect
The cobra effect was first used as a term by German economist Horst Siebert in the book Der Kobra-Effekt written in 2001. used for precautions.
Examples of the cobra effect from around the world
Although the main story of the cobra effect is the event in India However, there are many stories that can be considered as examples of the cobra effect. One of the most famous of these stories is the event that took place in America in 1860. When the government announced that workers on the train line, which was under construction at that time, would be paid for each mile laid, the workers deviated from the existing route and took a longer route to earn more money.
In the Great Haoni Rat Massacre in Vietnam, when the government announced that it would pay a fee per rat tail, people simply surrender their tails without killing the rats, and after a while, the rats’ tails grow back. In this way, people can earn money from the same rat more than once.
We can conclude our content, which can be counted as numerous examples of the cobra effect, with the example of Bulgarian Doctor Ivan Manukov, who receives premiums per surgery, inserted a stent to healthy people to receive premiums.
What do you guys think about the cobra effect?
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