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Academic Standards as Public Goods and Varieties of Free-Rider Behaviour

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  • Denton Marks

Abstract

Economists have long recognized that goods allowing non-rival enjoyment accompanied by costly exclusion - pure public goods - present a challenge to efficient production because beneficiaries tend to understate their willingness to support such goods: such 'free-riders' realize that they cannot be denied access and may choose to enjoy without providing appropriate contribution. 'Academic standards' help identify the quality of academic performance (e.g., research, educated students), but the benefit they confer (e.g., reputation) strongly resembles a public good with its corresponding tendency to elicit free-riding and inefficiently low levels of production or support. This paper explores the manner in which such standards confer benefit, exhibit public good characteristics, and elicit free-riding and 'underproduction' in various parts of the academic community. It examines the resulting challenge to the maintenance of academic quality and the difficulty of discouraging free-rider behaviour.

Suggested Citation

  • Denton Marks, 2002. "Academic Standards as Public Goods and Varieties of Free-Rider Behaviour," Education Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 10(2), pages 145-163.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:edecon:v:10:y:2002:i:2:p:145-163
    DOI: 10.1080/09645290210126896
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Michael S. McPherson & Morton Owen Schapiro, 1999. "Tenure Issues in Higher Education," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 13(1), pages 85-98, Winter.
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    7. Rothschild, Michael & White, Lawrence J, 1995. "The Analytics of the Pricing of Higher Education and Other Services in Which the Customers Are Inputs," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 103(3), pages 573-586, June.
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    Cited by:

    1. Silva Pedro Luís & DesJardins Stephen L. & Biscaia Ricardo & Sá Carla & Teixeira Pedro N., 2025. "Public and Private School Grade Inflation Patterns in Secondary Education," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 25(2), pages 305-342.
    2. Geraint Johnes & Kwok Tong Soo, 2017. "Grades across Universities over Time," Manchester School, University of Manchester, vol. 85(1), pages 106-131, January.

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