free rider

(noun)

One who obtains benefit from a public good without paying for it directly.

Related Terms

(noun)

In economics, collective bargaining, psychology and political science, "free riders" are those who consume more than their fair share of a resource, or shoulder less than a fair share of the costs of its production. Free riding is usually considered to be an economic "problem" only when it leads to the non-production or under-production of a public good (and thus to Pareto inefficiency), or when it leads to the excessive use of a common property resource. The free rider problem is the question of how to prevent free riding from taking place (or at least limit its negative effects) in these situations.

Related Terms

Examples of free rider in the following topics:

  • Motivations Behind the Formation of Interest Groups

    • To illustrate the free rider problem and collective goods, take for instance a tax write-off for a better environment.
    • Known as the free rider problem, it refers to the difficulty of obtaining members of a particular interest group when the benefits are already reaped without membership.
    • To illustrate the free rider problem and collective goods, take environmental groups who advocate for a cleaner environment.
    • For instance, if an interest group gives a material benefit to their member, they could give them travel discounts, free meals at certain restaurants, or free subscriptions to magazines, newspapers, or journals.
    • Some include free speech, civil rights, economic justice, or political equality .

  • Public Interest Groups

    • Another challenge for public-interest groups is the so-called free rider effect.

  • Members

    • Known as the free rider problem, it refers to the difficulty of obtaining members when the benefits are reaped without membership.
    • Selective material benefits are sometimes given in order to address the free rider problem.
    • Interest groups give material benefits like travel discounts, free meals at certain restaurants, or free subscriptions to magazines, newspapers, or journals.
    • Such values include free speech, civil rights, economic justice, or political equality.

  • The Characteristics of Members

    • Known as the free rider problem, it refers to the difficulty of obtaining members of a particular interest group when the benefits are already reaped without membership.
    • For instance, if an interest group gives a material benefit to their member, they could give them travel discounts, free meals at certain restaurants, or free subscriptions to magazines, newspapers, or journals.
    • Some include free speech, civil rights, economic justice, or political equality.

  • Health Care Reform

    • During these stops, each of the bus riders would talk about personal experiences, health care disasters, and why they felt it was important for all Americans to have health insurance.
    • When the bus tour ended on August 3rd, the riders were greeted by President Clinton and the First Lady on the White House South lawn for a rally that was broadcast all over the world.

  • The Free Exercise Clause: Freedom of Religion

    • The Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment establishes the right of all Americans to freely practice their religions.
    • The Establishment Clause and the Free Exercise Clause together read:" Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof..."
    • The Supreme Court has consistently held, however, that the right to free exercise of religion is not absolute, and that it is acceptable for the government to limit free exercise in some cases.
    • This interpretation of the Free Exercise Clause continued into the 1960s.
    • Describe how the interpretation of the Free Exercise clause has changed over time.

  • Freedom of Speech

    • Within these limited areas, other limitations on free speech balance rights to free speech and other rights, such as rights for authors and inventors over their works and discoveries (copyright and patent), protection from imminent or potential violence against particular persons (restrictions on fighting words), or the use of untruths to harm others (slander).
    • Certain exceptions to free speech exist, usually when it can be justified that restricting free speech is necessary to protect others from harm.
    • The government may set up time, place, or manner restrictions to free speech.
    • This image is a picture of the free speech zone of the 2004 Democratic National Convention.

  • The First Amendment

    • The text of the First Amendment reads, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. "
    • Anti-war protests during World War I gave rise to several important free speech cases related to sedition and inciting violence.
    • Before the twentieth century, most free speech issues involved prior restraint.
    • For example, the First Amendment guarantees freedom of speech to the general populace but the English Bill of Rights protected only free speech in Parliament .
    • The First Amendment to the Constitution guarantees Americans the right to a free press.

  • Policy Making and Special Interests

    • The debate over creating free trade areas, like the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) , placed business groups in competition with labor and environmental groups in garnering the attention of policymakers toward their divergent causes.
    • Events, such as the signing of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), highlight the differences among special interest groups and the competition that takes place between them to capture the attention of policymakers.

  • The Constitutional Right to Petition the Government

    • The Supreme Court has ruled that petitioning the government by way of lobbying is protected by the Constitution as free speech.
    • It is protected by the Constitution as free speech; one accounting was that there were three Constitutional provisions which protect the freedom of interest groups to "present their causes to government", and various decisions by the Supreme Court have upheld these freedoms over the course of two centuries .
    • Supreme Court has protected lobbying as free speech in numerous rulings since the early republic.