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The tyranny of small decisions is a phenomenon explored in an essay of the same name, published in 1966 by the American economist Alfred E. Kahn.〔Kahn, Alfred E. (1966) ("The tyranny of small decisions: market failures, imperfections, and the limits of economics" ) ''Kvklos'', 19:23-47.〕 The article describes a situation where a number of decisions, individually small in size and time perspective, cumulatively result in an outcome which is not optimal nor desired. It is a situation where a series of small, individually rational decisions can negatively change the context of subsequent choices, even to the point where desired alternatives are irreversibly destroyed. Kahn described the problem as a common issue in market economics which can lead to market failure.〔 The concept has since been extended to areas other than economic ones, such as environmental degradation,〔 political elections〔Burnell, P (2002) ("Zambia's 2001 Elections: the Tyranny of Small Decisions, Non-decisions and 'Not Decisions'" ) ''Third World Quarterly'', 23(3): 1103-1120. 〕 and health outcomes.〔 *Bickel WK and Marsch LA (2000) ("The Tyranny of Small Decisions: Origins, Outcomes, and Proposed Solutions" ) Chapter 13 in Bickel WK and Vuchinich RE (2000) ''Reframing health behavior change with behavioral economics'', Routledge. ISBN 978-0-8058-2733-0. 〕 A classic example of the tyranny of small decisions is the tragedy of the commons, described by Garrett Hardin in 1968〔Garrett Hardin, ("The Tragedy of the Commons" ), ''Science'', Vol. 162, No. 3859 (December 13, 1968), pp. 1243-1248. Also available (here ) and (here. )〕 as a situation where a number of herders graze cows on a commons. The herders each act independently in what they perceive to be their own rational self-interest, ultimately depleting their shared limited resource, even though it is clear that it is not in any herder's long-term interest for this to happen.〔Baylis J, Wirtz JJ, Cohen EA and Gray CS (2007) (''Strategy in the contemporary world: an introduction to strategic studies'' ) Page 368. Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0-19-928978-3〕 ==Ithaca railroad== The event that first suggested the tyranny of small decisions to Kahn was the withdrawal of passenger railway services in Ithaca, New York. The railway was the only reliable way to get in and out of Ithaca. It provided services regardless of conditions, in fair weather and foul, during peak seasons and off-peak seasons. The local airline and bus company skimmed the traffic when conditions were favourable, leaving the trains to fill in when conditions were difficult. The railway service was eventually withdrawn, because the collective individual decisions made by travellers did not provide the railway with the revenue it needed to cover its incremental costs. According to Kahn, this suggests a hypothetical economic test of whether the service should have been withdrawn.
The failure to reflect the full value to passengers of keeping the railroad service available had its origins in the discrepancy between the time perception within which the travellers were operating, and the time perception within which the railroad was operating. The travellers were making many short term decisions, deciding each particular trip whether to go by the railroad, or whether to go instead by car, bus or the local airline. Based on the cumulative effects of these small decisions, the railroad was making one major long run decision, "virtually all-or-nothing and once-and-for-all"; whether to retain or abandon its passenger service. Taken one at a time, each small travel decision made individually by the travellers had a negligible impact on the survivability of the railroad. It would not have been rational for a traveller to consider the survival of the railroad imperilled by any one of his particular decisions.〔
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