Sat, 26 Jul 2008 06:41:49 BST CiteULike: hardin's library [29 articles] http://www.citeulike.org/user/hardin/article/2505198 CiteULike.org en-gb Copyright © 2004-2008 citeulike.org http://www.citeulike.org/user/hardin/article/2505198 <i>The American Journal of Sociology, Vol. 85, No. 4. (1980), pp. 926-937.</i><br /><br />Our recent experimental research called into question the predictive utility of the free-rider hypothesis regarding the provision of public goods by groups. However, several critical questions regarding the generality of the findings may be raised. This paper reports three systematic replications of the previous research which deal with the most pressing of these questions. Study I shows that the presence of a "provision point" in the payoff structure does not substantially affect the results. Study II indicates that a fivefold increase in the amount of money at stake in the relevant decision does affect behavior but not sufficiently to salvage a strong version of the free-rider hypothesis. Study III shows that experienced subjects do not behave very differently from inexperienced ones in this situation. Experiments on the Provision of Public Goods. II. Provision Points, Stakes, Experience, and the Free-Rider Problem Gerald Marwell Ruth Ames The American Journal of Sociology, Vol. 85, No. 4. (1980), pp. 926-937. 2008-03-11T01:30:34-00:00 1980 The American Journal of Sociology 85 4 926 937 no-tag