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Title: Logic of Collective Action: Public Goods and the Theory of Groups (Harvard Economic Studies) by Mancur Olson ISBN: 0-674-53751-3 Publisher: Harvard University Press Pub. Date: 01 June, 1971 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $20.50 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.25 (12 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: THE crucial book on political economy
Comment: I once read that Olson was on the short list of people being considered for the Nobel Prize at the time of his death. Certainly, this list is not so short: at least three of my college professors were rumored to be.... Enough of that, though....
This work takes a simple premise and expands on it to explain processes that at the outset seem contradictory. Organisations exist, in economic logic, to seek either economic rent or ideological satisfaction. Olson in this book works through organisational logic and explains group behavior in a clear, concise fashion. This behavior influences economic performance and politics at all levels.
Moreso than other books which in part relate to the same areas (including Olson's the Rise and Decline of Nations and a few by Douglass North) this is THE key text for this issue, and a must read for anyone who is into political economy.
Rating: 4
Summary: Logically indeed
Comment: In this influential work, Mancur Olson is dismissing the 'classical' group theories, as he calls them. Rational individuals will rarely contribute to a common (or collective in the economics-lingo) good, because their contribution will be insignificant and the good will be produced whether the individual provides the good or not. With his stringent logic, the late Olson reminds his readers that groups of all kinds consist of individuals, and that these individuals usually follow there own interest, which not necessarily correspond with the organization's.
The book's explanatory powers are tremendous. Why large groups very rarely if ever are able to organize, and at the same time why some small groups exercise extraordinary amounts of power is Olsons main point of interest. In the very interesting last chapter he describes which features an organization, be it a farmer union, a labor union, a profession lobby or a special interest group, must inhibit to attain members.
The best trait of the book (at least for this reviewing economist) is the persuasive logic with which the arguments are hammered home, and the instructive examples that are used to illustrate the point just made. One little objection should be Olson's (human) tendency to arrogance when he is most pleased with his own conclusions. However: still an excellent read, 40 years after it's first printing.
Rating: 5
Summary: Old, but valuable, or at least very interesting
Comment: This book is based on Olson's Ph.D. dissertation in 1963 at Economics Department of Harvard entitled 'A General Theory of Public Goods.' So, this is the book written 40 years ago, but I think still valuable, or at least very interesting.
You can learn what public good is and why it is not provided (or provided only by government). But textbooks do not explain what the difference is between small and large groups in terms of provision of public goods. This book explains it in a way that is understandable to people with minimal knowledge on economics.
If you are interested in questions like: Why do many people write a book review for Amazon.com without any monetary compensation?; Why do many people contribute to development of free software?; or Why DO your roommates clean a shared living room (= public goods)?; this book is worth your time and money.
Olson wrote an article entitled 'An Economic Theory of Alliances' with Richard Zeckhauser in 1966. If you would like to know only his theory and are not interested at all in how he applied it to many examples, I think this article is enough for your purpose.
Economist Todd Sandler wrote a book titled 'Collective Action: Theory and Applications' in 1992. Mancur Olson wrote a forward to this book, saying that the book is very well written on the same topic of 'Logic of Collective Action.' So if you are interested in recent development in this area, it would be time-efficient to read this Sandler's book.
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Title: The Rise and Decline of Nations: Economic Growth, Stagflation, and Social Rigidities by Mancur Olson ISBN: 0300030797 Publisher: Yale University Press Pub. Date: 01 May, 1984 List Price(USD): $19.00 |
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Title: Institutions, Institutional Change and Economic Performance (Political Economy of Institutions and Decision) by Douglass North ISBN: 0521397340 Publisher: Cambridge University Press Pub. Date: 01 November, 1990 List Price(USD): $16.00 |
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Title: An Economic Theory of Democracy by Anthony Downs ISBN: 0060417501 Publisher: Addison Wesley Publishing Company Pub. Date: 01 June, 1957 List Price(USD): $47.00 |
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Title: Social Choice and Individual Values by Kenneth Arrow ISBN: 0300013647 Publisher: Yale University Press Pub. Date: 01 August, 1970 List Price(USD): $17.00 |
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Title: The Calculus of Consent by James M. Buchanan ISBN: 0472061003 Publisher: University of Michigan Press Pub. Date: 01 June, 1962 List Price(USD): $22.95 |
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