THE TRIPLE ENTENTE AND THE TRIPLE ALLIANCE 1880-1914 - A COLLECTIVE GOODS APPROACH

The distribution of burdens in alliances may be explained in terms of public and private outputs. A joint product model is applied to the Triple Alliance and Triple Entente, using generalized least squares-auto regressive moving average (GLS-ARMA) techniques and time series data. Results indicate that countries regarded allies' military effort more as complements than as substitutes, though several examples of free-riding behavior are noted. The method used here may provide more accurate estimation of publicness problems than is found in the usual static tests. © 1990, American Political Science Association. All rights reserved.