free rider

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Free rider

A follower who avoids the cost and expense of finding the best course of action simply by mimicking the behavior of a leader who made these investments.

Free Rider

An investor whose investment decisions mimic those of another larger investor or firm. A free rider effectively places his/her hope in the larger investor to make profitable decisions. This is, of course, risky for the free rider because he/she does little to no research on his/her own, but this saves the expense of doing so. See also: Free Rider Problem.

free rider

a CONSUMER who deliberately understates his or her preference for a COLLECTIVE PRODUCT in the hope of being able to consume the product without having to pay the full economic price for it.

For example, where a number of householders seek to resurface their common private road, an individual householder might deliberately understate the value of the resurfaced road to himself on the grounds that the other householders will pay to have all the road resurfaced anyhow and that he will therefore enjoy the benefit of it without having to pay towards its resurfacing. See CLUB PRINCIPAL.

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References in periodicals archive ?

If the dam can be higher or lower depending on the desired level of risk protection, then it becomes in the interest of many free riders to withhold their participation in a conditional contract as a dam one fraction of an inch lower will not materially affect their risk while significantly diminishing their financial burden.

The valium of the people

This, in turn, may well make the free rider problem return with a vengeance.

Defense as a private good in a competitive order

The amounts of money that individuals and corporations would need to contribute in order to support a proper, rights-protecting government would be so small (especially compared to what they are forced to pay in taxes today)--and the cost of being an irrational free rider would be so great--that few people or corporations would be so irrational as to miscalculate.

How would government be funded in a free society?

Many or all putatively public goods worth providing can be offered on the market if the provider is willing to bear the cost of excluding free riders (pp.

Political Philosophy, Clearly: Essays on Freedom and Fairness, Property and Equalities

The free rider debate in relation to RPM has usually focused on the actual significance of the justification and whether it is more theoretical than practical.

Resale price maintenance: the Internet phenomenon and free rider issues

Although Free Rider had got off the mark as a two-year-old in October 1999, that had been his sole success in 18 outings.

Double on the cards for Hugh

fr] [neq] p, the requested amount of money and the costs born by the free rider will not be optimal for the scientific team, although the probability of the research team to win will be minimal.

Scientific Policy and Free Riders

In the preceding sub-section, only adjacent retailers incurred a loss as a result of a free rider.

Resale price maintenance as a private contract enforcement mechanism: the special services case

Of course, if sufficient numbers of employees free ride, the survival of the union as bargaining agent may be endangered, but the marginal impact of one additional free rider is likely to be minimal.

Right-to-work laws and free riding

You cannot be one of the biggest economies in the world and a free rider at the same time.

Warning to China over global trade; ECONOMY TODAY TRADE

A FREE rider improvement day will give motorcyclists the chance to brush up on their skills at Jaguar Sports and Social Club, in Browns Lane, Allesley, on May 15 from 9am-3pm.