Estimating Free-Riding Behavior: The StratAM Model

Spatial statistical methods in political science provide a tool to deal with spatial and other forms of interdependence in observational data. In this article, I derive a statistical model from a game of impure public goods provision. The resulting strategic autoregressive model (StratAM) allows the researcher to systematically explore the sources of free-riding behavior in the provision of public goods. The StratAM model is tightly related to the well-known spatial autoregressive (SAR) model and can be estimated in a maximum likelihood framework. I demonstrate the use of the StratAM model by analyzing free riding in the provision of foreign aid. Indicators of developmental needs and good governance strongly increase free-riding during the 1990s. Free-riding patterns in the 2000s are more similar to Cold War patterns.

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Who commits the most to NATO? It depends on how we measure commitment

Journal of Peace Research ◽

10.1177/0022343320980820 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 002234332098082

Author(s):

Scott Cooper ◽

Kendall W Stiles

Keyword(s):

Cold War ◽

Public Goods ◽

Military Spending ◽

Burden Sharing ◽

Public Goods Provision ◽

Post Cold War ◽

Key Indicator ◽

The Usa ◽

Out Of Area ◽

Disproportionate Burden

Studies of NATO rely heavily on military spending as a fraction of GDP as the key indicator of members’ contribution to the alliance, but a growing number of scholars have challenged this approach. We suggest that each member’s public goods provision is a better measure of commitment to the alliance. In the case of post-Cold War NATO, out-of-area troop deployments (adjusted for population) constitute one of the strongest indicators of a state’s contribution to public goods. Providing troops for NATO missions in Afghanistan, Kosovo, and Bosnia-Herzegovina is one of the clearest signals of high commitment to the alliance. Using deployment data from 2004 to 2018, we show that there is evidence of disproportionate burden-sharing within the alliance. Countries like Slovenia, Denmark, the USA and UK contributed far more to NATO deployments than others like Turkey, Spain, Poland, and Portugal. We also use the data to begin examining possible causes of these disparities. We find that wealthier countries, countries that spend more on their militaries, and newer alliance members are more likely to contribute. Our indicator and first-cut model open avenues for further research on why some members demonstrate higher commitment to NATO than others.

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Impure Public Goods Provision in a Federal Fiscal System

SSRN Electronic Journal ◽

10.2139/ssrn.911223 ◽

2006 ◽

Author(s):

Rosella Levaggi

Keyword(s):

Public Goods ◽

Public Goods Provision ◽

Impure Public Goods ◽

Fiscal System

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THE EFFECTS OF UNCERTAINTY ON THE VOLUNTARY PRIVATE PROVISION OF IMPURE PUBLIC GOODS

The Singapore Economic Review ◽

10.1142/s0217590809003161 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 54 (01) ◽

pp. 61-73

Author(s):

ILTAE KIM

Keyword(s):

Public Goods ◽

Public Good ◽

Free Riding ◽

Collective Good ◽

Private Provision ◽

The Public ◽

Voluntary Provision ◽

Impure Public Goods ◽

Impure Public Good ◽

Increase In Risk

This paper examines the effects of uncertainty on an individual's own contribution to the provision of the collective good using an impure public good model. Two types of uncertainty analyzing free-riding behavior are evaluated: (i) uncertainty surrounding the contributions of others to the public characteristic and (ii) uncertainty surrounding the response of others to an individual's own contribution. We extend previous studies by examining both the compensated and uncompensated effects of increases in such risks on the provision of the collective good. We also establish the conditions that are sufficient to determine both compensated and the total, uncompensated effects of an increase in risk on the voluntary provision of the collective good.

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Enduring Logics of U.S. Foreign Aid during the Bush Administration

International Studies Review ◽

10.1163/2667078x-00901001 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 9 (1) ◽

pp. 1-21

Author(s):

Chansoo Cho

Keyword(s):

Foreign Policy ◽

Cold War ◽

Foreign Aid ◽

Good Governance ◽

Bush Administration ◽

World Order ◽

Democracy Promotion ◽

Post Cold War ◽

Policy Ideas ◽

The Difference

Since 9/11 the Bush administration has made larger pledges than ever to the cause of promoting development and fighting HN/AIDS in various corners of the globe. Foreign aid policy initiatives taken by the Republican president needed some explanations considering the GOP's longstanding dislike for foreign aid. One of the common answers was 9/11; the U.S. had to address the sources of discontent against itself by providing foreign development assistance to countries most vulnerable to terrorist infiltration. This paper argues that U.S. foreign aid during the Bush administration is not just a response to the spread of anti-American sentiments among failed and failing states but an outgrowth of foreign policy ideas that had shaped the liberal hegemon’s vision of the new world order since the end of the Cold War. Particularly continuities between the Clinton and Bush administrations are stressed in terms of foreign policy ideas. Three themes of post-Cold War U.S. foreign policy are identified here: globalization, democracy promotion, and good governance. Globalization has been routed as the facilitator of economic prosperity through the liberalization of trade and capital flows. Democracy promotion has been endorsed as a long-term solution to security instability of the post-Cold War world. Good governance has been advanced as a yardstick by which to compare countries in their willingness and capability to be part of global community. Those major tenets of U.S. foreign policy affected the policy outlook of foreign aid in a way that makes less significant the difference between the Clinton and Bush administrations than is assumed.

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