 In a situation in which a thousand people are expected to work together to achieve a common goal, individuals will be likely to free ride, as they assume that each of the other members of the team will put in enough effort to achieve said goal.In smaller groups, the impact one individual has is much greater, so individuals will be less inclined to free ride.The most prominent modern interpretation of the collective action problem can be found in Mancur Olson's 1965 book "The Logic of Collective Action".