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Collective action: fifty years later

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  • Todd Sandler

Abstract

This paper presents a retrospective view of Mancur Olson’s The Logic of Collective Action. The paper’s primary purpose is to investigate the validity of Olson’s propositions concerning group size, group composition, and institutional design. This purpose is accomplished by drawing on the literature and the paper’s game-theoretic representations. Key considerations behind the validity of his propositions concern benefit rivalry, the aggregation technology, strategic assumptions, and participation costs. The difference between public good and commons games is also an essential consideration. Generally, Olson’s propositions fare best for benefit rivalry, a summation aggregator, Nash behavior, and positive participation costs. Because his propositions are true in many important real-world situations, the book remains highly relevant. Efforts to find exceptions to Olson’s propositions have served to further our understanding of collective action. Copyright The Author(s) 2015

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  • Todd Sandler, 2015. "Collective action: fifty years later," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 164(3), pages 195-216, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:pubcho:v:164:y:2015:i:3:p:195-216
    DOI: 10.1007/s11127-015-0252-0
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    3. Ariel Singerman & Pilar Useche, 2019. "The Role of Strategic Uncertainty in Area-wide Pest Management Decisions of Florida Citrus Growers," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 101(4), pages 991-1011.
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    7. Todd Sandler, 2018. "Collective action and geoengineering," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 13(1), pages 105-125, March.
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    9. Maja Grabkowska & Magdalena Szmytkowska, 2021. "Gating as exclusionary commoning in a post-socialist city: Evidence from Gdańsk, Poland," REGION, European Regional Science Association, vol. 8, pages 15-32.
    10. Jac C. Heckelman, 2017. "Tullock on the organization of scientific inquiry," Constitutional Political Economy, Springer, vol. 28(1), pages 1-17, March.
    11. John R. Conlon & Paul Pecorino, 2022. "Public good provision with participation costs," Journal of Public Economic Theory, Association for Public Economic Theory, vol. 24(2), pages 241-258, April.
    12. Todd Sandler, 2017. "Environmental cooperation: contrasting international environmental agreements," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 69(2), pages 345-364.
    13. Wolfgang Buchholz & Todd Sandler, 2016. "The Exploitation Hypothesis in a Public Good Economy: Some Extensions," CESifo Working Paper Series 5717, CESifo.
    14. Nava Kahana & Doron Klunover, 2016. "Private provision of a public good with time-allocation choice," Social Choice and Welfare, Springer;The Society for Social Choice and Welfare, vol. 47(2), pages 379-386, August.
    15. Nöldeke, Georg & Peña, Jorge, 2020. "Group size and collective action in a binary contribution game," Journal of Mathematical Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 42-51.
    16. Sergio H. Lence & Ariel Singerman, 2023. "When does voluntary coordination work? Evidence from area‐wide pest management," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 105(1), pages 243-264, January.
    17. Levine, David K. & Modica, Salvatore, 2017. "Size, fungibility, and the strength of lobbying organizations," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 71-83.
    18. Elina Lampi & Daniel Carelli & Jon Pierre & Björn Rönnerstrand, 2023. "Two pandemics: the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on future AMR collaboration in Europe," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 10(1), pages 1-10, December.
    19. Paan Jindapon & Zhe Yang, 2020. "Free riders and the optimal prize in public‐good funding lotteries," Journal of Public Economic Theory, Association for Public Economic Theory, vol. 22(5), pages 1289-1312, September.
    20. Sara Garcia-Figuera & Elizabeth E. Grafton-Cardwell & Bruce A. Babcock & Mark N. Lubell & Neil McRoberts, 2021. "Institutional approaches for plant health provision as a collective action problem," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 13(2), pages 273-290, April.
    21. Andrea Pacheco & Carsten Meyer, 2022. "Land tenure drives Brazil’s deforestation rates across socio-environmental contexts," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-10, December.
    22. Tverskoi, Denis & Senthilnathan, Athmanathan & Gavrilets, Sergey, 2021. "The dynamics of cooperation, power, and inequality in a group-structured society," SocArXiv 24svr, Center for Open Science.
    23. Todd Sandler, 2023. "COVID-19 Activities: Publicness and Strategic Concerns," Games, MDPI, vol. 14(1), pages 1-19, January.
    24. de Neufville, Robert & Baum, Seth D., 2021. "Collective action on artificial intelligence: A primer and review," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    25. Czyżewski, Bazyli, 2016. "Political Rents of European Farmers in the Sustainable Development Paradigm. International, national and regional perspective," MPRA Paper 74253, University Library of Munich, Germany.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Collective action; Exploitation hypothesis; Selective incentives; Public goods; Commons; D70; H41; D62;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D70 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - General
    • H41 - Public Economics - - Publicly Provided Goods - - - Public Goods
    • D62 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Externalities

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