Waring presents webinar in the Prosocial World seminar series

UMaine Alert

Posted: April 19, 2024 - 1:32 PM

At approximately 9:24 a.m. on Friday, April 19, a University of Maine graduate student was struck by a university vehicle on Long Road at the University of Maine campus in Orono. The student reports that they are at a local hospital with minor injuries.

Emergency services, including the Orono Fire Department, University Volunteer Ambulance Corps, University of Maine Police Department, Orono Police Department and Penobscot County Sheriff’s Office responded to the scene.

The university vehicle involved in the incident was a Chevrolet Express van. It was being operated by a university employee.

Counseling services and support are available for students, faculty or staff who may have been affected. The Counseling Center can be reached at 207-581-1392 and the Dean of Students Office can be reached at 207-581-1406.

The scene has been cleared and Long Road is now accessible. An investigation is being conducted by the University of Maine Police Department with assistance from the Penobscot County Sheriff’s Office Crash Reconstruction Unit. Any witnesses to the incident are encouraged to contact Lt. Noel Santiago at noel.santiago@maine.edu.

February 13, 2023 faculty, News, Research

Dr. Tim Waring, Associate Professor in the School of Economics, gave an open webinar, The Role of Cooperation in the Evolution of Cooperatives, in the Prosocial World seminar series. Waring delivered his talk to a global audience on February 10, 2023. His webinar explored the fundamental question – How do organizations evolve? Dr. Waring generally addressed this question using the example of food buying clubs, which are small informal consumer cooperatives in which people share bulk purchases and buy specialty foods. While successful buying clubs sometimes grow large enough to open a storefront, others struggle or expire. Dr. Waring argues that food buying clubs rely on cooperation to survive, making them vulnerable to the internal threat of free-riding. Waring shows how food buying clubs overcome the free-riding problem. Evidence from interviews, surveys, stakeholder research, agent-based simulation and behavioral experiments suggest that cooperatives must adopt individual norms and group practices to maintain cooperation. In food-buying clubs, cooperation is likely maintained through informal reciprocity among members. Dr. Waring uses these results to draw inferences about the role of cooperation in the evolution of human organizations generally.

For more information about Dr. Waring, click here.

For more information about his webinar and the Prosocial World seminar series, click here.