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Reciprocity in young children

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Author Info
Dahlman, Sandra (Dept. of Economics, Stockholm School of Economics)
Ljungqvist, Pontus (Dept. of Economics, Stockholm School of Economics)
Johannesson, Magnus () (Dept. of Economics, Stockholm School of Economics)

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Abstract

Reciprocal behavior, the rewarding of kind acts and the punishment of unkind acts, is relatively well established among adults. We test if reciprocal behavior exists already among children 3-8 years old. Three simple anonymous allocation games are conducted with 242 children. In a first stage, half of the children decide whether to give a bag of raisin to another anonymous child or not. The three games differ in terms of the cost of giving and the relative difference in payoffs. In a second stage the roles are reversed between the two children to test for reciprocal behavior. We find reciprocal behavior in all three games with highly significant effects for two of the three games. Furthermore, the degree of reciprocity tends to increase with age. The effect of reciprocity is not significant among 3-5 year old children, whereas the effect is highly significant in all three games for 6-8 year olds.

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Publisher Info
Paper provided by Stockholm School of Economics in its series Working Paper Series in Economics and Finance with number 674.

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Length: 28 pages
Date of creation: 26 Sep 2007
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:hhs:hastef:0674

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Related research
Keywords: Reciprocity; prosociality; children; experiments;

Find related papers by JEL classification:
C90 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - General
D64 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Altruism
J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth

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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!]
    Other versions:
  2. William T. Harbaugh & Kate Krause & Timothy R. Berry, 2001. "GARP for Kids: On the Development of Rational Choice Behavior," Artefactual Field Experiments 0048, The Field Experiments Website. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  3. Zak, Paul J & Knack, Stephen, 2001. "Trust and Growth," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 111(470), pages 295-321, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  4. Harbaugh, William T & Krause, Kate, 2000. "Children's Altruism in Public Good and Dictator Experiments," Economic Inquiry, Oxford University Press, vol. 38(1), pages 95-109, January.
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  5. William T. Harbaugh & Kate Krause & Steven G. Liday & Lise Vesterlund, 2001. "Trust in Children," University of Oregon Economics Department Working Papers 2002-10, University of Oregon Economics Department, revised 25 Mar 2002. [Downloadable!]
  6. Sutter, Matthias & Kocher, Martin G., 2007. "Trust and trustworthiness across different age groups," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 59(2), pages 364-382, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  7. Murnighan, J. Keith & Saxon, Michael Scott, 1998. "Ultimatum bargaining by children and adults," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 19(4), pages 415-445, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  8. J. Keith Murnighan & M.S. Saxon, 1998. "Ultimatum Bargaining by Children and Adults," Artefactual Field Experiments 0071, The Field Experiments Website. [Downloadable!]
  9. John A. List, 2006. "The Behavioralist Meets the Market: Measuring Social Preferences and Reputation Effects in Actual Transactions," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 114(1), pages 1-37, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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