NIMBY

NIMBY — "Not In My Back Yard" — is the pattern where people support a policy or project in the abstract but oppose it when it affects their own locale. Benefits are diffuse or distant; costs are concentrated and visible. So opposition is rational for the local actor even when the aggregate benefit exceeds the cost. Founders see NIMBY in zoning (housing, data centres, energy), regulation (new entrants, innovation), and internal change (reorgs, new tools). The lens: identify who bears the concentrated cost and who gets the diffuse benefit; then compensate, relocate, or build coalitions to shift the equilibrium.

Map concentrated costs and diffuse benefits. Reduce opposition by compensating those who bear the cost (side payments, local benefits), by moving the "back yard" (siting, timing), or by making benefits more tangible for the affected group. When you’re the one opposing, ask whether your objection is really about total welfare or about your local cost — and whether compensation or redesign could align incentives.

NIMBY: support in general, opposition when the cost is in one’s back yard. Concentrated cost vs diffuse benefit drives it. Address via compensation, siting, or coalition so that local incentives align with the desired outcome.