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Altruism, the free rider problem and group size

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Abstract

This paper is a survey of recent theoretical work on the influence of group size, perceived effectiveness or noticeability of one's behavior on a group member's altruistic responses. Experiments on this problem are analyzed and evaluated, and problems for future research are outlined.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dept. of Government, Wesleyan University, 06457, Middletown, Conn., USA

    John W. Sweeney Jr.

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  1. John W. Sweeney Jr.
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This paper is a revised version of a paper originally presented at the March 1973 meetings of the Public Choice Society. In preparing this paper I have benefited from criticisms and suggestions made by a number of people and I wish to take this opportunity to thank them. Among them are John Bonin, Barry Groffman, Bob O'Gorman, Don Moon, George Reynolds and Harrison Wagner.

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Sweeney, J.W. Altruism, the free rider problem and group size. Theor Decis 4, 259–275 (1974). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00136649

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