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Ambiguity and Public Good Provision in Large Societies

Author

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  • RALPH W. BAILEY
  • JÜRGEN EICHBERGER
  • DAVID KELSEY

Abstract

In this paper, we consider the effect of ambiguity on the private provision of public goods. Equilibrium is shown to exist and be unique. We examine how provision of the public good changes as the size of the population increases. We show that when there is uncertainty, there may be less free‐riding in large societies.

Suggested Citation

  • Ralph W. Bailey & Jürgen Eichberger & David Kelsey, 2005. "Ambiguity and Public Good Provision in Large Societies," Journal of Public Economic Theory, Association for Public Economic Theory, vol. 7(5), pages 741-759, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:jpbect:v:7:y:2005:i:5:p:741-759
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-9779.2005.00242.x
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    Cited by:

    1. David Kelsey & Sara Le Roux, 2017. "Dragon Slaying with Ambiguity: Theory and Experiments," Journal of Public Economic Theory, Association for Public Economic Theory, vol. 19(1), pages 178-197, February.
    2. Astrid Dannenberg & Andreas L�schel & Gabriele Paolacci & Christiane Reif & Alessandro Tavoni, 2011. "Coordination under threshold uncertainty in a public goods game," GRI Working Papers 64, Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment.
    3. le Roux, Sara, 2020. "Climate change catastrophes and insuring decisions: A study in the presence of ambiguity," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 180(C), pages 992-1002.
    4. Simona Fabrizi & Steffen Lippert & Addison Pan & Matthew Ryan, 2022. "A theory of unanimous jury voting with an ambiguous likelihood," Theory and Decision, Springer, vol. 93(3), pages 399-425, October.
    5. Matteo M. Marini & Aurora García-Gallego & Luca Corazzini, 2018. "Communication in a threshold public goods game with ambiguity: Anomalies and regularities," Working Papers 2018/03, Economics Department, Universitat Jaume I, Castellón (Spain).
    6. Kishishita, Daiki & Ozaki, Hiroyuki, 2020. "Public goods game with ambiguous threshold," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 191(C).
    7. Guha, Brishti, 2022. "Ambiguity aversion, group size, and deliberation: Costly information and decision accuracy," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 201(C), pages 115-133.
    8. Ronald Stauber, 2019. "A strategic product for belief functions," ANU Working Papers in Economics and Econometrics 2019-668, Australian National University, College of Business and Economics, School of Economics.
    9. Kocherlakota, Narayana R. & Song, Yangwei, 2019. "Public goods with ambiguity in large economies," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 182(C), pages 218-246.
    10. Stauber, Ronald, 2019. "A strategic product for belief functions," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 116(C), pages 38-64.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D81 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Criteria for Decision-Making under Risk and Uncertainty
    • H41 - Public Economics - - Publicly Provided Goods - - - Public Goods

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