As a member of the baseball team at UVA over the past two years, I’ve been fortunate to be a part of two very successful seasons. While not very easily quantified, the success of our team in its most basic sense can be viewed as a public good— each individual member adds different production to the team, amounting in some level of success throughout the season which everyone can benefit from. Although it is not quite pure since members can receive more or less benefit depending on how they contribute, everyone receives some level of benefit at the end of the season.
My two years as a member of this team provide a good example of how the team’s success is a public good. Our team reached the College World Series in each of the last two years, which provides a nice control for the public good (our overall team success). In my first year I contributed greatly on the field, but last year I missed around ¾ of the season with an injury. Even though my contributions varied greatly, in both years I got to benefit from being a member of a championship team.
While technically Gruberch would consider me a free rider last year by circumstance, our team can generally mitigate the deliberate free rider problem. Gruberch mentions in chapter 7 how in more trusting communities, the free rider problem occurs less. Immense trust in each other is one of the core foundations instilled in our team culture, which is likely a large reason why free riders are uncommon within our community.
 |
| Sign posted around the baseball stadium, shows commitment and trust in our team community |
No comments:
Post a Comment