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Trust, reciprocity and favors in cooperative relationships

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Author Info
Atila Abdulkadiroglu () (Duke University - Department of Economics)
Kyle Bagwell () (Department of Economics, Columbia University)

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Abstract

We study trust, reciprocity and favors in a repeated trust game with private information. In our main analysis, players are willing to exhibit trust and thereby facilitate cooperative gains only if such behavior is regarded as a favor that must be reciprocated, either immediately or in the future. Private information is a fundamental ingredient in our theory. A player with the ability to provide a favor must have the incentive to reveal this capability, and this incentive is provided by an equilibrium construction in which favors are reciprocated. We also offer the novel prediction that the size of a favor owed may decline over time, as netural phases of the relationship are experienced. Indeed, a favor-exchange relationship with this feature offers a higher total payoff than does a simple favor-exchange relationship. We also describe specific circumstances in which a relationship founded on favor exchange may be inferior to a relationship in which an infrequent and symmetric punishment motivates cooperative behavior. Finally, we show that a hybrid relationship, in which players begin with a honeymoon period and then either proceed to a favor-exchange relationship of suffer a symmetric punishment, can also offer scope for improvement.

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Publisher Info
Paper provided by Columbia University, Department of Economics in its series Discussion Papers with number 0405-22.

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Length: 59 pages
Date of creation: 2005
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:clu:wpaper:0405-22

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References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
  1. Ernst Fehr & Simon Gaechter, . "Fairness and Retaliation: The Economics of Reciprocitys," IEW - Working Papers iewwp040, Institute for Empirical Research in Economics - IEW. [Downloadable!]
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  2. Abreu, Dilip & Pearce, David & Stacchetti, Ennio, 1986. "Optimal cartel equilibria with imperfect monitoring," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 39(1), pages 251-269, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  3. Susan Athey & Kyle Bagwell & Chris Sanchirico, 1998. "Collusion and Price Rigidity," Working papers 98-23, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Department of Economics.
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  4. Watson, Joel, 2002. "Starting Small and Commitment," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 38(1), pages 176-199, January. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  5. Ernst Fehr & Simon Gachter, 2000. "Cooperation and Punishment in Public Goods Experiments," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 90(4), pages 980-994, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  6. Jack Hirshleifer, 1997. "The Origins of Virtue: Human Instincts and the Evolution of Cooperation," UCLA Economics Working Papers 771, UCLA Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
  7. Susan Athey & Kyle Bagwell, 2004. "Collusion with Persistent Cost Shocks," Levine's Bibliography 122247000000000334, UCLA Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
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  8. Rajiv Sethi & E.Somanathan, 2002. "Understanding reciprocity," Indian Statistical Institute, Planning Unit, New Delhi Discussion Papers 02-05, Indian Statistical Institute, New Delhi, India. [Downloadable!]
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  9. Susan Athey & Kyle Bagwell, 1999. "Optimal Collusion with Private Information," Working papers 99-17, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Department of Economics.
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  10. Fudenberg, Drew & Levine, David I & Maskin, Eric, 1994. "The Folk Theorem with Imperfect Public Information," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 62(5), pages 997-1039, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  11. Wang, Cheng, 1995. "Dynamic Insurance with Private Information and Balanced Budgets," Review of Economic Studies, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 62(4), pages 577-95, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  12. Aoyagi, Masaki, 2003. "Bid rotation and collusion in repeated auctions," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 112(1), pages 79-105, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  13. Engle-Warnick, Jim & Slonim, Robert L., 2004. "The evolution of strategies in a repeated trust game," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 55(4), pages 553-573, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  14. Berg Joyce & Dickhaut John & McCabe Kevin, 1995. "Trust, Reciprocity, and Social History," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 10(1), pages 122-142, July. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  15. Watson, Joel, 1999. "Starting Small and Renegotiation," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 85(1), pages 52-90, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  16. Skrzypacz, Andrzej & Hopenhayn, Hugo, 2004. "Tacit collusion in repeated auctions," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 114(1), pages 153-169, January. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Andrew Postlewaite & Olivier Compte, 2008. "Repeated Relationships with Limits on Information Processing," PIER Working Paper Archive 08-026, Penn Institute for Economic Research, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania. [Downloadable!]
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  2. Olivier Compte & Andrew Postlewaite, 2007. "Effecting Cooperation," PIER Working Paper Archive 09-019, Penn Institute for Economic Research, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania, revised 29 May 2009. [Downloadable!]
  3. Carmona, Guilherme, 2006. "On the Optimality of the Equality Matching Form of Sociality," FEUNL Working Paper Series wp489, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Faculdade de Economia. [Downloadable!]
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