The Free-Rider Problem

In class today we discussed the issue of the 'Free Rider Problem' which is when a person takes advantage of the benefits that are offered to them but they fail to contribute anything in return. In Olson's book "Logic of Collective Action" he believed that the only time a problem can be properly solved is when a group is small enough that the problem is visible, with a larger group the problem isn't as clear and there's the risk that those involved can become sidetracked by other issues.

In my head I began applying Olson's view of the 'Free Rider Problem' with our Mills community. Even though our campus is considered small compared to other schools, the 1,000+ students is too big of a sample to apply Olson's theory to. Narrowing it down, I thought of a situation where a class of students are taking an exam. Now, a free-rider may come in the form of a student who doesn't study at all for the exam BUT the student benefits if the professor gives the entire class a curve while grading. The free-rider can benefit from this curve while the other students, who put in their individual work of studying, may end up suffering if the free-rider scores low which in turn can effect how much of a curve is given.