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Contributing or Free-Riding? Voluntary Participation in a Public Good Economy

Author

Listed:
  • Taiji Furusawa

    (Hitotsubashi University)

  • Hideo Konishi

    (Boston College)

Abstract

We consider a (pure) public goods provision problem with voluntary participation in a quasi-linear economy. We propose a new hybrid solution concept, the free-riding-proof core (FRP-Core), which endogenously determine a contribution group, public good provision level, and its cost-sharing. The definition of the FRP-Core is based on credibility of coalitional deviations. The FRP-Core is always nonempty in public good economy but does not usually achieve global efficiency. The FRP-Core has support from both cooperative and noncooperative games. In particular, it is equivalent to the set of perfectly coalition-proof Nash equilibrium (Bernheim, Peleg and Whinston, 1987 JET) of a dynamic game with participation decision followed by a common agency game. We illustrate the properties of the FRP-Core with an example. We also show that the equilibrium level of public good shrinks to zero as the economy is replicated.

Suggested Citation

  • Taiji Furusawa & Hideo Konishi, 2008. "Contributing or Free-Riding? Voluntary Participation in a Public Good Economy," Boston College Working Papers in Economics 681, Boston College Department of Economics, revised 04 Aug 2010.
    • Handle: RePEc:boc:bocoec:681
    Note: Previously circulated as "Contributing or Free-Riding? A Theory of Endogenous Lobby Formation"
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Federico Quartieri, 2013. "Coalition-proofness under weak and strong Pareto dominance," Social Choice and Welfare, Springer;The Society for Social Choice and Welfare, vol. 40(2), pages 553-579, February.
    2. Bag, Parimal Kanti & Mondal, Debasis, 2014. "Group size paradox and public goods," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 125(2), pages 215-218.
    3. Noriaki Matsushima & Ryusuke Shinohara, 2012. "Private Provision of Public Goods that are Complements for Private Goods: Application to Open Source Software Developments," ISER Discussion Paper 0830, Institute of Social and Economic Research, Osaka University.
    4. Zudenkova Galina, 2017. "Lobbying as a Guard against Extremism," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 17(1), pages 1-17, January.
    5. Federico Quartieri & Ryusuke Shinohara, 2015. "Coalition-proofness in a class of games with strategic substitutes," International Journal of Game Theory, Springer;Game Theory Society, vol. 44(4), pages 785-813, November.
    6. Mun, Se-il, 2019. "Joint provision of transportation infrastructure," Economics of Transportation, Elsevier, vol. 19(C), pages 1-1.
    7. Zudenkova, Galina, 2010. "Sincere Lobby Formation," Working Papers 2072/151545, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Department of Economics.
    8. Takuma Wakayama & Takehiko Yamato, 2023. "Comparison of the voluntary contribution and Pareto-efficient mechanisms under voluntary participation," International Journal of Game Theory, Springer;Game Theory Society, vol. 52(2), pages 517-553, June.
    9. Perrin Lefebvre & David Martimort, 2022. "Delegation, capture and endogenous information structures," Journal of Theoretical Politics, , vol. 34(3), pages 357-414, July.
    10. Liu, Tracy Xiao & Lu, Jingfeng & Wang, Zhewei, 2022. "Efficient public good provision by lotteries with nonlinear pricing," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 204(C), pages 680-698.
    11. Matsushima, Noriaki & Shinohara, Ryusuke, 2019. "Pre-negotiation commitment and internalization in public good provision through bilateral negotiations," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 175(C), pages 84-93.
    12. Hideo Konishi & Ryusuke Shinohara, 2014. "Voluntary Participation and Provision of Public Goods in Large Finite Economies," Journal of Public Economic Theory, Association for Public Economic Theory, vol. 16(2), pages 173-195, April.
    13. Martimort, David, 2019. ""When Olson Meets Dahl": From Inefficient Groups Formation to Inefficient Policy-Making," CEPR Discussion Papers 13843, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    14. Yukihiro Nishimura & Ryusuke Shinohara, 2013. "A voluntary participation game through a unit-by-unit cost share mechanism of a non-excludable public good," Social Choice and Welfare, Springer;The Society for Social Choice and Welfare, vol. 40(3), pages 793-814, March.
    15. FURUSAWA Taiji & KONISHI Hideo, 2011. "Free-Riding-Proof International Environmental Agreements," Discussion papers 11043, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).
    16. Se-il Mun, 2016. "Joint Provision of International Transport Infrastructure," Discussion papers e-15-015, Graduate School of Economics , Kyoto University.
    17. Noriaki Matsushima & Ryusuke Shinohara, 2015. "The efficiency of monopolistic provision of public goods through simultaneous bilateral bargaining," ISER Discussion Paper 0948, Institute of Social and Economic Research, Osaka University.
    18. Zudenkova Galina, 2017. "Lobbying as a Guard against Extremism," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 17(1), pages 1-17, February.
    19. Lefebvre, Perrin & Martimort, David, 2023. "Reform for Sale: a Common Agency Model with Moral Hazard Frictions," TSE Working Papers 23-1419, Toulouse School of Economics (TSE).
    20. Ryusuke Shinohara, 2010. "Coalition-proof equilibria in a voluntary participation game," International Journal of Game Theory, Springer;Game Theory Society, vol. 39(4), pages 603-615, October.
    21. Ryusuke Shinohara, 2014. "Participation and demand levels for a joint project," Social Choice and Welfare, Springer;The Society for Social Choice and Welfare, vol. 43(4), pages 925-952, December.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    endogenous coalition formation; externalities; public good; perfectly coalition-proof Nash equilibrium; free riders; free-riding-proof core; lobbying; common agency game;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C71 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Game Theory and Bargaining Theory - - - Cooperative Games
    • C72 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Game Theory and Bargaining Theory - - - Noncooperative Games
    • F13 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Trade Policy; International Trade Organizations
    • H41 - Public Economics - - Publicly Provided Goods - - - Public Goods

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