An Experimental Evaluation of Weakest Link/Best Shot Models of Public Goods

Abstract

In the supply of public goods, far less free-riding actually occurs than traditional theory predicts. As one explanation, the social composition function(SCF), which aggregates individual contributions into an available social total,may not always take the standard summation form. Theoretical considerations indicate that free-riding should be least for an SCF of the weakest-link type but greatest for the best-shot type. Using a sequential protocol, our experiments strongly confirmed theoretical anticipations under all three types of SCF. Even under the more onerous sealed-bid (simultaneous play) protocol, the experimental subjects were able to make some partial progress toward the theoretical ideal.

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