Analysis of group size effects and communication in public good provision

Abstract

The problem of public goods provision is studied in the field of experimental economics. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the effect of group size and the incorporation of communication in several experimental sessions. The experiments were carried out in two universities, Universitat Jaume I and University of Bamberg, aimed at students of the economics room during classroom experiments of the subject Experimental economics. The experiments were carried out in two universities: Universitat Jaume I and University of Bamberg aimed at students of the economics during a classroom experiments of the subject Experimental economics. The results show that group size and communication affect contribution decisions. When the group size increases and the marginal per capita return decreases the incidence of free-rider increases. However, when the group is large but the marginal per capita return is close to unity, we can obtain positive contributions. The fall in contributions in recent periods can be corrected by incorporating communication; subjects contribute more when they can communicate. In our research we demonstrated that individuals contribute more than economic theory predicted.