The Difficulty of Collective Action

The difficulty of collective action arises because individuals may hesitate to contribute to a group effort if they can benefit from the outcome without participating—called free-riding. When many people share a common goal, each person's incentive to contribute decreases, especially if they believe others will do the work. This can lead to under-provision of the good or service, even if all would benefit from its success. Essentially, coordinating efforts and motivating enough individuals to participate for the group's benefit is challenging, especially when personal incentives conflict with collective interests.