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Original Title:	The Logic of Collective Action: Public Goods and the Theory of Groups
ISBN:	0674537513 (ISBN13: 9780674537514)
Edition Language:	English

The Logic of Collective Action: Public Goods and the Theory of Groups

Mancur Olson

Paperback | Pages: 186 pages

Rating: 3.98 | 803 Users | 37 Reviews

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Title	:	The Logic of Collective Action: Public Goods and the Theory of Groups
Author	:	Mancur Olson
Book Format	:	Paperback
Book Edition	:	First Edition
Pages	:	Pages: 186 pages
Published	:	January 1st 1971 by Harvard University Press (first published 1965)
Categories	:	Economics. Politics. Political Science. Sociology. Nonfiction

Narration As Books The Logic of Collective Action: Public Goods and the Theory of Groups

This book develops an original theory of group and organizational behavior that cuts across disciplinary lines and illustrates the theory with empirical and historical studies of particular organizations. Applying economic analysis to the subjects of the political scientist, sociologist, and economist, Mancur Olson examines the extent to which the individuals that share a common interest find it in their individual interest to bear the costs of the organizational effort.

The theory shows that most organizations produce what the economist calls "public goods"--goods or services that are available to every member, whether or not he has borne any of the costs of providing them. Economists have long understood that defense, law, and order were public goods that could not be marketed to individuals, and that taxation was necessary. They have not, however, taken account of the fact that private as well as governmental organizations produce public goods.

The services the labor union provides for the worker it represents, or the benefits a lobby obtains for the group it represents, are public goods: they automatically go to every individual in the group, whether or not he helped bear the costs. It follows that, just as governments require compulsory taxation, many large private organizations require special (and sometimes coercive) devices to obtain the resources they need. This is not true of smaller organizations for, as this book shows, small and large organizations support themselves in entirely different ways. The theory indicates that, though small groups can act to further their interest much more easily than large ones, they will tend to devote too few resources to the satisfaction of their common interests, and that there is a surprising tendency for the "lesser" members of the small group to exploit the "greater" members by making them bear a disproportionate share of the burden of any group action.

All of the theory in the book is in Chapter 1; the remaining chapters contain empirical and historical evidence of the theory's relevance to labor unions, pressure groups, corporations, and Marxian class action.

Rating Based On Books The Logic of Collective Action: Public Goods and the Theory of Groups

Ratings: 3.98 From 803 Users | 37 Reviews

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I kind of read this book by accident. The author, Mancur Olson, is often mentioned by an author I like, Ashwin Parameswaran, on the topic of "crony capitalism." I saw this book in a used book store and picked it up. It turns out, however, that this particular book is completely unrelated to the work mentioned by Parameswaran. To me it is pretty much a garden-variety exposition of the economic problems associated with collective goods (though perhaps it was groundbreaking when published).

Read only a portion of this book. Generally, author's thesis is that the larger a group is, the less likely it is to pursue a common good unless additional incentives are offered. This is for a number of reasons, but stems mostly from the fact that more members means less "bang" for each "buck" spent in pursuit of the common good. This hurt my brain a little bit.

this book made a really good point but I forgot what it was - please remind me

3.75 starsGood look at the motivations people do, or do not have, to have to create groups. I had to play catch up, as the book starts out super strong, but their are some interesting points throughout the book.

Best book ever written about group behavior, which means it's the best book ever written about politics.

This is one of the seminal social science works of the 20th century. Olson argued (contrary to the conventional academic wisdom up to that time) that "unless the number of individuals in a group is quite small, or unless there is coercion or some other special device to make individuals act in their common interest, rational, self-interested individuals will not act to achieve their common or group interests." (Emphasis his.) It makes no rational sense for an individual to join an organization

The Logic of Collective ActionJDN 2456594 PDT 15:55.The blinders neoclassicists wear are large indeed. This book was written in 1971, and the neoclassical understanding of collective action has, as far as I can tell, not been substantially advanced since thenin over 40 years, the essential conclusions haven't changed. This would not be a problem, of course, if those conclusions were correct; but they aren't. Indeed they are wrong at a fundamental level; they are almost literally reversed from