Original article History of Economic Thought, Methodology, and Heterodox Approaches

Foundations of contemporary economics: Mancur Olson and collective action

Henrik Egbert - Anhalt University of Applied Sciences, Germany
Teodor Sedlarski - Sofia University St. Kliment Ohridski
Received: 01 Jun 2022
Revised:
Published:
Downloads: 0
Citations: 0
Issue 4/2021
JEL H41 D71 B31 B21
DOI https://doi.org/10.56497/etj2166405

Abstract

Mancur Olson (1932-1998) became famous with one great idea: the failure of collective action. Since interest groups provide their members with public (collective) goods with corresponding externalities, he assumed that free riding as a rational individual strategy would be a ubiquitous problem hampering the realization of efficient collective action in the provision of such goods. This remarkable idea – the application of methodological individualism and the assumption of rational individual behavior in the analysis of interest groups, provided a fertile ground for theory building in all social sciences, most notably in political science. In the field of economics, Olson’s ideas contributed to the establishment of the Public Choice Theory and became a prerequisite for fundamental research in experimental economics – on public goods, voluntary contribution mechanisms and games such as the prisoner dilemma. The present paper briefly discusses his two best-known books.

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