""Economics and social conflict"" eventually brings to life the classic thought experiment of a natural state. Examining the behavior of almost 400.000 people living in the virtual anarchy of the online computer game "EVE Online," it highlights the economic aspects of these people's 'evil" behavior. The social conflict the players are engaging in is characterized by non-instrumental violence, a phenomenon that has not been in the focus of economic research yet.
The book shows that evil actions seemingly motivated by a "taste for harming" are of high relevance for the performance of the online economy and that the commonly held belief that social rules that foster conflict will be overcome eventually might be too optimistic.
By drawing on the server data, the book conducts highly controllable field work. In an environment that feels natural for the players, one can directly observe all of their actions and does not have to rely on the biased stories perpetrators and victims tell.

This book brings to life the classic thought experiment of a natural state. Provides data on the economic aspects of social conflict of 400.000 people living in a virtual anarchy; showing evil actions and rules exist from an economic perspective. Non-instrumental violence has economic effects and inciting people to fight are not overcome in time.