New study reveals how information can worsen free-riding in public goods provision
The study looks at problems in providing multiple public goods efficiently. They focus on a game with two goods, where contributions beyond a limit are wasted. The best outcome needs contributions to match the limits, creating a coordination issue. The researchers tested if sharing limit values helps. The theory suggests it can make people match the limits, improving efficiency. The experiments showed that sharing this information helps with coordination but makes the free-riding problem worse.