[go: up one dir, main page]
IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/pubcho/v43y1984i2p113-149.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Divergent evidence on free riding: An experimental examination of possible explanations

Author

Listed:
  • R. Isaac
  • James Walker
  • Susan Thomas
Abstract
The most important single observation from this research is the similarity between our wide range of results and the multitude of seemingly divergent conclusions about free riding from previous experimental results. Even when defined in the restrictive manner of this paper, free riding is neither absolutely all pervasive nor always nonexistent. This ‘intermediate’ result is not the same as a general theory which states that the predictable result of public goods provision processes is always weak free riding. The extremes of strong free riding and near-Lindahl optimal behavior can and do occur. These experiments further demonstrate that this diversity of outcome need not be attributed to inexplicable randomness. At least for the case of the voluntary contribution mechanism, there are identifiable factors which make free riding more or less likely to occur. Two such factors have been identified here: (i) the replication environment and (ii) per capita marginal return. This latter parameter can be related to although it is not equivalent to group size. This research is not intended to ‘model’ a precise quantitative prediction about free riding. Having identified, in a general manner, these effects, the groundwork is set for many interesting questions in future research: 1) Although the qualitative results more often suggest that ‘free riding’ behavior increases with experience, there are no statistically supported conclusions. A design focusing on the factor of experience could reveal whether this effect is sustained under more extensive replication. 2) The influence of marginal per capita return is striking. Why is there a difference when zero contribution is a single period dominant strategy for either level (.3 or .75)? How extensive is the interaction of replication and marginal per capita return? We are currently conducting a new set of experiments focusing upon these issues. 3) Given the power of the marginal per capita return, what happens in situations in which this parameter varies, as in a quadratic return function? 4) Why did some individuals contribute positive amounts even in the 10th period when the learning and multiperiod gaming aspects were presumably of minimal effect? We conjecture that this represents a core of people for whom utility functions are not completely selfish or who otherwise wish to believe in ‘good guy’ fashion. However, it is possible that some individuals were still learning their single period dominant strategy or did not correctly notice the presence of a truly single period decision environment. In any case, it appears that marginal per capita return again plays a role. 5) With the group production technology held constant, increasing group size (with a concomitant decrease in marginal per capita return) has the expected effect of increasing ‘free riding’ type behavior. Standardizing for marginal per capita return, the effect of group size becomes ambiguous, and shows evidence of reversing. This aspect of group size effects is another area for future research. Our ongoing research will also look at this question. 6) What can be said about economies which lack condition D*? If individuals have no dominant strategy, the very concept of ‘free riding’ becomes poorly defined. Definitions and predictions must explicitly state what assumptions about expectations and what solution concepts are being employed. In summary, we find that there is no successful general theory which states that all individuals always free ride a lot, always free ride a little, or never free ride. Under the appropriate circumstances, we find people who will do any or all of the above. This research gives some guidelines as to why and when free riding can be expected. Further work in both theory and experiments may be able to tell even more. Copyright Martinus Nijhoff Publishers 1984

Suggested Citation

  • R. Isaac & James Walker & Susan Thomas, 1984. "Divergent evidence on free riding: An experimental examination of possible explanations," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 43(2), pages 113-149, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:pubcho:v:43:y:1984:i:2:p:113-149
    DOI: 10.1007/BF00140829
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1007/BF00140829
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/BF00140829?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Friedrich Schneider & Werner W. Pommerehne, 1981. "Free Riding and Collective Action: An Experiment in Public Microeconomics," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 96(4), pages 689-704.
    2. Johansen, Leif, 1977. "The theory of public goods: Misplaced emphasis?," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 7(1), pages 147-152, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Ledyard, John O., "undated". "Public Goods: A Survey of Experimental Research," Working Papers 861, California Institute of Technology, Division of the Humanities and Social Sciences.
    2. Sánchez, Isabel, 1991. "La provision voluntaria de bienes publicos: Resultados Experimentales," DE - Documentos de Trabajo. Economía. DE 3000, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid. Departamento de Economía.
    3. Jeffrey S. Zax & Casey Ichniowski, 1991. "Excludability and the Effects of Free Riders: Right-To-Work Laws and Local Public Sector Unionization," Public Finance Review, , vol. 19(3), pages 293-315, July.
    4. Wolfgang Buchholz & Wolfgang Peters, 2007. "Justifying the Lindahl solution as an outcome of fair cooperation," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 133(1), pages 157-169, October.
    5. JOHN McMILLAN, 1979. "The Free‐Rider Problem: A Survey," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 55(2), pages 95-107, June.
    6. Dirk Alboth & Anat Lerner & Jonathan Shalev, 2001. "Profit Maximizing in Auctions of Public Goods," Journal of Public Economic Theory, Association for Public Economic Theory, vol. 3(4), pages 501-525, October.
    7. Hummel Jeffrey Rogers & Lavoie Don, 1994. "National Defense And The Public-Goods Problem," Journal des Economistes et des Etudes Humaines, De Gruyter, vol. 5(2-3), pages 353-378, June.
    8. Bruno Frey, 1985. "State and prospect of public choice: A European view," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 46(2), pages 141-161, January.
    9. Vincent Anesi, 2009. "Moral hazard and free riding in collective action," Social Choice and Welfare, Springer;The Society for Social Choice and Welfare, vol. 32(2), pages 197-219, February.
    10. Jacques H. Dreze, 1995. "Forty Years of Public Economics: A Personal Perspective," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 9(2), pages 111-130, Spring.
    11. Michael Ahlheim & Friedrich Schneider, 2002. "Allowing for Household Preferences in Emission Trading – A Contribution to the Climate Policy Debate," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 21(4), pages 317-342, April.
    12. Harrison, Glenn W & Hirshleifer, Jack, 1989. "An Experimental Evaluation of Weakest Link/Best Shot Models of Public Goods," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 97(1), pages 201-225, February.
    13. Abueg, Luisito, 2019. "A survey of the ocean’s plastic waste problem, and some policy developments of the Philippines," MPRA Paper 96263, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    14. Tatsuyoshi Saijo, 2014. "The instability of the voluntary contribution mechanism," Working Papers SDES-2014-3, Kochi University of Technology, School of Economics and Management, revised Oct 2014.
    15. D.J. Butler, 1990. "Experimental Techniques in Economics: Some lessons to date," Economics Discussion / Working Papers 90-22, The University of Western Australia, Department of Economics.
    16. Minkler, Lanse, 2004. "Shirking and motivations in firms: survey evidence on worker attitudes," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 22(6), pages 863-884, June.
    17. Nicolas Vallois & Dorian Jullien, 2017. "Replication in experimental economics: A historical and quantitative approach focused on public good game experiments," Université Paris1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (Post-Print and Working Papers) halshs-01651080, HAL.
    18. Esteban Muñoz Sobrado, 2022. "Taxing Moral Agents," CESifo Working Paper Series 9867, CESifo.
    19. Yoav Wachsman, 2018. "Intragroup Communication in a Public Goods Experiment with Nested Exchanges," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 38(4), pages 2217-2224.
    20. Thomas McCaleb & Richard Wagner, 1985. "The experimental search for free riders: Some reflections and observations," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 47(3), pages 479-490, January.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:kap:pubcho:v:43:y:1984:i:2:p:113-149. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.