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Altruism within the Family Reconsidered: Do Nice Guys Finish Last?

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Author Info
Bernheim, B Douglas
Stark, Oded

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Abstract

In this paper, the authors criticize the view that the presence of altruism either increases the benefits of group interactions or improves the allocation of resources within families. They demonstrate first that altruism can alter the social utility possibility frontier in surprising and sometimes unfortunate ways. Next, they argue that, in a variety of situations, altruism entails exploitability and therefore causes family members to behav e in ways that leave all parties worse off. Specifically, an altruist may take u ndesirable actions in order to discourage subsequent exploitation. In addition, altruists have difficulty enforcing agreements in that they may be extremely reluctant to punish betrayals. Copyright 1988 by American Economic Association.

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Article provided by American Economic Association in its journal American Economic Review.

Volume (Year): 78 (1988)
Issue (Month): 5 (December)
Pages: 1034-45
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Handle: RePEc:aea:aecrev:v:78:y:1988:i:5:p:1034-45

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  1. Timothy Feddersen & Alvaro Sandroni, 2006. "The calculus of ethical voting," International Journal of Game Theory, Springer, vol. 35(1), pages 1-25, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  2. MoonJoong Tcha & Fiona Lio, 2002. "An Analysis of Food Aid and Altruism," Economics Discussion / Working Papers 02-19, The University of Western Australia, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
  3. Donald Cox & Oded Stark, 1996. "Intergenerational Transfers and the Demonstration Effect," Boston College Working Papers in Economics 329., Boston College Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
  4. Philippe Fontaine, 2000. "Making use of the past: theorists and historians on the economics of altruism," European Journal of the History of Economic Thought, Taylor and Francis Journals, vol. 7(3), pages 407-422, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  5. Ralph Chami & Samir Jahjah & Connel Fullenkamp, 2003. "Are Immigrant Remittance Flows a Source of Capital for Development," IMF Working Papers 03/189, International Monetary Fund. [Downloadable!]
  6. Helmut Rainer, 2004. "Gender Discrimination and Effciency in Marriage: the Bargaining Family under Scrutiny," Economics Discussion Papers 586, University of Essex, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
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  7. Lindon J. ROBISON, 1996. "In Search Of Social Capital In Economics," Staff Papers 96-102, Michigan State University, Agricultural Economics. [Downloadable!]
  8. Chami, Ralph & Sharma, Sunil & Shim, Ilhyock, 2008. "A Model of the IMF as a Coinsurance Arrangement," Economics - The Open-Access, Open-Assessment E-Journal, Kiel Institute for the World Economy, vol. 2(14). [Downloadable!]
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  9. Maria Perozek, 2005. "Escaping the Samaritan's Dilemma: implications of a dynamic model of altruistic intergenerational transfers," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2005-67, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.). [Downloadable!]
  10. Ralph Chami & Connel Fullenkamp, 2002. "Trust as a Means of Improving Corporate Governance and Efficiency," IMF Working Papers 02/33, International Monetary Fund. [Downloadable!]
  11. Ted Bergstrom & Oded Stark, . "How Altruism Can Prevail in an Evolutionary Environment," Papers _024, University of Michigan, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
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  12. Antonia Díaz & Cristina Echevarria, 1998. "- Kinship Related Altruistic Preferences And Inter-Vivos Transfers," Working Papers. Serie AD 1998-11, Instituto Valenciano de Investigaciones Económicas, S.A. (Ivie). [Downloadable!]
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  13. Lagerlöf, Johan N.M., 2003. "Efficiency-Enhancing Signalling in the Samaritan's Dilemma," CEPR Discussion Papers 3842, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  14. Ralph Chami & Connel Fullenkamp, 2002. "The Optimal Subsidy to Private Transfers Under Moral Hazard," IMF Staff Papers, Palgrave Macmillan Journals, vol. 49(2), pages 5. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  15. John Laitner, 1999. "Means Tested Public Assistance and the Demand for State Lottery Tickets," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 2(1), pages 273-290, January. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  16. Johan Lagerlöf, 1999. "Incomplete Information in the Samaritan's Dilemma: The Dilemma (Almost) Vanishes," CIG Working Papers FS IV 99-12, Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin (WZB), Research Unit: Competition and Innovation (CIG), revised Jun 2002. [Downloadable!]
  17. Eduardo Ley, 1996. "Optimal Provision of Public Goods with Altruistic Individuals," Public Economics 9607001, EconWPA, revised 06 Oct 2001. [Downloadable!]
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  18. Khalil, Elias, 2007. "The Mirror-Neuron Paradox: How Far is Sympathy from Compassion, Indulgence, and Adulation?," MPRA Paper 3509, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 10 Jul 2007. [Downloadable!]
  19. Ingela Alger & Jörgen W. Weibull, 2006. "Altruism and Climate," Boston College Working Papers in Economics 643, Boston College Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
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  20. Cox, Donald & Stark, Oded, 2004. "On the Demand for Grandchildren: Tied Transfers and the Demonstration Effect," Economics Series 158, Institute for Advanced Studies. [Downloadable!]
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  21. Chiappori, Pierre-Andre & Haddad, Lawrence & Hoddinott, John & Kanbur, Ravi, 1993. "Unitary versus collective models of the household : time to shift the burden of proof?," Policy Research Working Paper Series 1217, The World Bank. [Downloadable!]
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