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Group size and the free-rider hypothesis: A re-examination of old evidence from churches: Comment

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Abstract

This paper comments on a recent study by Lipford (1995) which rejects the hypothesis of free ridership. This paper contends that Lipford's analysis suffers from two serious misspecification errors. A re-examination of Lipford's results suggests that free ridership could occur. Other hypotheses, however, are also consistent with the new results.

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Zaleski, P.A., Zech, C.E. Group size and the free-rider hypothesis: A re-examination of old evidence from churches: Comment. Public Choice 88, 407–411 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00153241

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00153241

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