IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/soceco/v123y2026ics2214804326000728.html

Critical mass in collective action

Author

Listed:
  • Ginzburg, Boris
  • Guerra, José-Alberto
  • Lekfuangfu, Warn N.

Abstract

Using a laboratory experiment, we study the incentives of individuals to contribute to a public good that is provided if and only if the share of contributors reaches a certain threshold. We jointly vary the size of the group, the cost of contributing, the required threshold, and the framing of contributions (giving to a common pool versus not taking from it). We find that higher thresholds increase individuals’ willingness to contribute. In small groups, this effect is strong enough that raising the threshold increases the likelihood that the public good is provided, whereas in larger groups the effect disappears. By contrast, we find no consistent effect of framing on either contribution behaviour or the probability of success.

Suggested Citation

  • Ginzburg, Boris & Guerra, José-Alberto & Lekfuangfu, Warn N., 2026. "Critical mass in collective action," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 123(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:soceco:v:123:y:2026:i:c:s2214804326000728
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socec.2026.102581
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214804326000728
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.socec.2026.102581?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

    for a different version of it.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    • C92 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Laboratory, Group Behavior
    • D91 - Microeconomics - - Micro-Based Behavioral Economics - - - Role and Effects of Psychological, Emotional, Social, and Cognitive Factors on Decision Making
    • H41 - Public Economics - - Publicly Provided Goods - - - Public Goods

    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:eee:soceco:v:123:y:2026:i:c:s2214804326000728. 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.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using 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: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/inca/620175 .

    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.