Free riding in NATO after the Rise of Russia: cost sharing, free riding and selective incentives in NATO from 2009 to 2019
Journal: Journal of Transatlantic Studies
Year: 2023

Abstract After a period of relative overperformance due to the focus on output indicators in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s (NATO) burden-sharing debate, we ask whether the shift back to input indicators prior to the Ukraine War meant that the smaller NATO allies have returned to their fringe position as NATO underperformers. According to the deterrence model, smaller allies are induced to free ride to a higher degree than mid-sized allies. Utilizing insights from public choice theory,