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James Buchanan and Peaceful Cooperation

From Public Finance to a Theory of Collective Action

Alain Marciano author

Format:Paperback

Publisher:Cambridge University Press

Published:27th Jun '24

Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back

James Buchanan and Peaceful Cooperation cover

The Element proposes a new history of the origins of public choice theory, and Buchanan's theory of collective action.

This Element shows that individuals are fundamentally willing to cooperate with others. A historical approach is shown of how the author came to develop a theory of collective action, including his conception of cooperation in small groups, to implement a technical condition about the pricing of public goods he defended early in his career.Buchanan believed that individuals are fundamentally willing to cooperate with others. It was at the center of his works in public finance in the late 1940s and early 1950s, and also crucial to his work in public choice in the 1960s. The purpose of this book is to show which forms this belief took over these two decades or so, and to explain the continuity between these forms. We adopt a historical approach that allows us to recount the story of how Buchanan came to develop a theory of collective action, including his conception of cooperation in small groups, to implement a technical condition about the pricing of public goods he defended early in his career. We describe the different steps Buchanan took, the encounters that influenced him, and the events and challenges that led him to revise his views to make room for this fundamental philosophical conviction.

ISBN: 9781009493772

Dimensions: 229mm x 152mm x 5mm

Weight: 141g

75 pages