IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/chsofr/v190y2025ics0960077924013304.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Effects of punishment driven by inequity aversion on promoting cooperation in public goods games

Author

Listed:
  • Ding, Rui
  • Wang, Xianjia
  • Zhao, Jinhua
  • Gu, Cuiling

Abstract

Unlike traditional punishment mechanisms, which target individuals adopting specific strategies, punishers driven by inequity aversion focus on individuals with higher payoffs. The intensity of punishment varies based on the difference in payoffs. This paper examines the cooperation-promoting effect of this unique punishment mechanism within a structured population. Specifically, we study the evolutionary dynamics of two three-strategy systems in public goods games (PGGs), comprising cooperators, inequity-averse individuals, and defectors. Furthermore, we analyze the spatial dynamics and the evolution of characteristic spatial distributions of strategies to uncover the mechanisms underlying various phases and phase transitions. Our findings indicate that cooperation is enhanced regardless of whether the punishment is enforced by cooperators or defectors. When inequity-averse individuals cooperate in PGGs, punishing defectors at the cluster boundary fosters cooperation. However, mutual punishment among inequity-averse individuals diminishes the efficiency of cooperation promotion. For inequity-averse defectors, low punishment intensity safeguards cooperators from defector invasion, while high punishment intensity against defectors facilitates the spread of cooperation among them.

Suggested Citation

  • Ding, Rui & Wang, Xianjia & Zhao, Jinhua & Gu, Cuiling, 2025. "Effects of punishment driven by inequity aversion on promoting cooperation in public goods games," Chaos, Solitons & Fractals, Elsevier, vol. 190(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:chsofr:v:190:y:2025:i:c:s0960077924013304
    DOI: 10.1016/j.chaos.2024.115778
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960077924013304
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.chaos.2024.115778?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Wang, Xianjia & Ding, Rui & Zhao, Jinhua & Chen, Wenman & Gu, Cuiling, 2022. "Competition of punishment and reward among inequity-averse individuals in spatial public goods games," Chaos, Solitons & Fractals, Elsevier, vol. 156(C).
    2. Martin Sefton & Robert Shupp & James M. Walker, 2007. "The Effect Of Rewards And Sanctions In Provision Of Public Goods," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 45(4), pages 671-690, October.
    3. Karthik Panchanathan & Robert Boyd, 2004. "Indirect reciprocity can stabilize cooperation without the second-order free rider problem," Nature, Nature, vol. 432(7016), pages 499-502, November.
    4. Ernst Fehr & Klaus M. Schmidt, 1999. "A Theory of Fairness, Competition, and Cooperation," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 114(3), pages 817-868.
    5. Carpenter, Jeffrey P., 2007. "Punishing free-riders: How group size affects mutual monitoring and the provision of public goods," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 60(1), pages 31-51, July.
    6. Ernst Fehr & Simon Gächter, 2002. "Altruistic punishment in humans," Nature, Nature, vol. 415(6868), pages 137-140, January.
    7. James M. Walker & Matthew A. Halloran, 2004. "Rewards and Sanctions and the Provision of Public Goods in One-Shot Settings," Experimental Economics, Springer;Economic Science Association, vol. 7(3), pages 235-247, October.
    8. Sarah F. Brosnan & Frans B. M. de Waal, 2003. "Monkeys reject unequal pay," Nature, Nature, vol. 425(6955), pages 297-299, September.
    9. Christopher T. Dawes & James H. Fowler & Tim Johnson & Richard McElreath & Oleg Smirnov, 2007. "Egalitarian motives in humans," Nature, Nature, vol. 446(7137), pages 794-796, April.
    10. Nikos Nikiforakis & Hans-Theo Normann, 2008. "A comparative statics analysis of punishment in public-good experiments," Experimental Economics, Springer;Economic Science Association, vol. 11(4), pages 358-369, December.
    11. Martin A. Nowak & Karl Sigmund, 1998. "Evolution of indirect reciprocity by image scoring," Nature, Nature, vol. 393(6685), pages 573-577, June.
    12. Wang, Xianjia & Ding, Rui & Zhao, Jinhua & Chen, Wenman, 2021. "The rise and fall of donation behavior through reputation," Chaos, Solitons & Fractals, Elsevier, vol. 152(C).
    13. M.A. Nowak & K. Sigmund, 1998. "Evolution of Indirect Reciprocity by Image Scoring/ The Dynamics of Indirect Reciprocity," Working Papers ir98040, International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis.
    14. Ernst Fehr & Urs Fischbacher, 2003. "The nature of human altruism," Nature, Nature, vol. 425(6960), pages 785-791, October.
    15. Lee, Hsuan-Wei & Cleveland, Colin & Szolnoki, Attila, 2024. "Supporting punishment via taxation in a structured population," Chaos, Solitons & Fractals, Elsevier, vol. 178(C).
    16. Akihiro Nishi & Hirokazu Shirado & David G. Rand & Nicholas A. Christakis, 2015. "Inequality and visibility of wealth in experimental social networks," Nature, Nature, vol. 526(7573), pages 426-429, October.
    17. Fehr, Dietmar, 2018. "Is increasing inequality harmful? Experimental evidence," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 123-134.
    18. Johnson, Tim & Dawes, Christopher T. & Fowler, James H. & McElreath, Richard & Smirnov, Oleg, 2009. "The role of egalitarian motives in altruistic punishment," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 102(3), pages 192-194, March.
    19. Wang, Qiang & He, Nanrong & Chen, Xiaojie, 2018. "Replicator dynamics for public goods game with resource allocation in large populations," Applied Mathematics and Computation, Elsevier, vol. 328(C), pages 162-170.
    20. Jörg Gross & Carsten K. W. Dreu, 2019. "The rise and fall of cooperation through reputation and group polarization," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 10(1), pages 1-10, December.
    21. Simon Gachter & Ernst Fehr, 2000. "Cooperation and Punishment in Public Goods Experiments," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 90(4), pages 980-994, September.
    22. Dirk Helbing & Attila Szolnoki & Matjaž Perc & György Szabó, 2010. "Evolutionary Establishment of Moral and Double Moral Standards through Spatial Interactions," PLOS Computational Biology, Public Library of Science, vol. 6(4), pages 1-9, April.
    23. Henry H. Lee & Michael N. Molla & Charles R. Cantor & James J. Collins, 2010. "Bacterial charity work leads to population-wide resistance," Nature, Nature, vol. 467(7311), pages 82-85, September.
    24. Ananish Chaudhuri, 2011. "Sustaining cooperation in laboratory public goods experiments: a selective survey of the literature," Experimental Economics, Springer;Economic Science Association, vol. 14(1), pages 47-83, March.
    25. Redouan Bshary & Alexandra S. Grutter, 2006. "Image scoring and cooperation in a cleaner fish mutualism," Nature, Nature, vol. 441(7096), pages 975-978, June.
    26. Wang, Xianjia & Ding, Rui & Zhao, Jinhua & Gu, Cuiling, 2022. "The rise and fall of cooperation in populations with multiple groups," Applied Mathematics and Computation, Elsevier, vol. 413(C).
    27. Jesse Marczyk, 2017. "Human punishment is not primarily motivated by inequality," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 12(2), pages 1-11, February.
    28. Karl Sigmund & Hannelore De Silva & Arne Traulsen & Christoph Hauert, 2010. "Social learning promotes institutions for governing the commons," Nature, Nature, vol. 466(7308), pages 861-863, August.
    29. Lee, Hsuan-Wei & Cleveland, Colin & Szolnoki, Attila, 2022. "Mercenary punishment in structured populations," Applied Mathematics and Computation, Elsevier, vol. 417(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Wang, Xianjia & Ding, Rui & Zhao, Jinhua & Chen, Wenman & Gu, Cuiling, 2022. "Competition of punishment and reward among inequity-averse individuals in spatial public goods games," Chaos, Solitons & Fractals, Elsevier, vol. 156(C).
    2. Ding, Rui & Wang, Xianjia & Liu, Yang & Zhao, Jinhua & Gu, Cuiling, 2023. "Evolutionary games with environmental feedbacks under an external incentive mechanism," Chaos, Solitons & Fractals, Elsevier, vol. 169(C).
    3. Ding, Rui & Wang, Xianjia & Zhao, Jinhua & Gu, Cuiling & Wang, Tao, 2023. "The evolution of cooperation in spatial public goods games under a risk-transfer mechanism," Chaos, Solitons & Fractals, Elsevier, vol. 169(C).
    4. Simon Gaechter & Benedikt Herrmann, 2008. "Reciprocity, culture, and human cooperation: Previous insights and a new cross-cultural experiment," Discussion Papers 2008-14, The Centre for Decision Research and Experimental Economics, School of Economics, University of Nottingham.
    5. Simon Gaechter, 2014. "Human Pro-Social Motivation and the Maintenance of Social Order," CESifo Working Paper Series 4729, CESifo.
    6. Simon Gaechter & Benedikt Herrmann, 2008. "Reciprocity, culture, and human cooperation: Previous insights and a new cross-cultural experiment," Discussion Papers 2008-14, The Centre for Decision Research and Experimental Economics, School of Economics, University of Nottingham.
    7. Gächter, Simon & Herrmann, Benedikt, 2011. "The limits of self-governance when cooperators get punished: Experimental evidence from urban and rural Russia," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 55(2), pages 193-210, February.
    8. Leibbrandt, Andreas & López-Pérez, Raúl & Spiegelman, Eli, 2023. "Reciprocal, but inequality averse as well? Mixed motives for punishment and reward," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 210(C), pages 91-116.
    9. Isamu Okada, 2020. "A Review of Theoretical Studies on Indirect Reciprocity," Games, MDPI, vol. 11(3), pages 1-17, July.
    10. Simon Gaechter & Benedikt Herrmann, 2006. "The limits of self-governance in the presence of spite: Experimental evidence from urban and rural Russia," Discussion Papers 2006-13, The Centre for Decision Research and Experimental Economics, School of Economics, University of Nottingham.
    11. Wang, Xianjia & Ding, Rui & Zhao, Jinhua & Gu, Cuiling, 2022. "The rise and fall of cooperation in populations with multiple groups," Applied Mathematics and Computation, Elsevier, vol. 413(C).
    12. Wang, Xianjia & Ding, Rui & Zhao, Jinhua & Chen, Wenman, 2021. "The rise and fall of donation behavior through reputation," Chaos, Solitons & Fractals, Elsevier, vol. 152(C).
    13. Ananish Chaudhuri, 2011. "Sustaining cooperation in laboratory public goods experiments: a selective survey of the literature," Experimental Economics, Springer;Economic Science Association, vol. 14(1), pages 47-83, March.
    14. Gächter, Simon & Herrmann, Benedikt, 2011. "The limits of self-governance when cooperators get punished: Experimental evidence from urban and rural Russia," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 55(2), pages 193-210, February.
    15. Dickinson, David L. & Masclet, David & Villeval, Marie Claire, 2015. "Norm enforcement in social dilemmas: An experiment with police commissioners," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 126(C), pages 74-85.
    16. Daniele Nosenzo & Martin Sefton, 2012. "Promoting Cooperation: the Distribution of Reward and Punishment Power," Discussion Papers 2012-08, The Centre for Decision Research and Experimental Economics, School of Economics, University of Nottingham.
    17. Xiaofeng Wang & Xiaojie Chen & Long Wang, 2020. "Evolution of egalitarian social norm by resource management," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(1), pages 1-16, January.
    18. Nikiforakis, Nikos, 2010. "Feedback, punishment and cooperation in public good experiments," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 68(2), pages 689-702, March.
    19. Guererk, Oezguer & Rockenbach, Bettina & Wolff, Irenaeus, 2010. "The effects of punishment in dynamic public-good games," MPRA Paper 22097, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    20. Michael Kosfeld & Akira Okada & Arno Riedl, 2009. "Institution Formation in Public Goods Games," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 99(4), pages 1335-1355, September.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:chsofr:v:190:y:2025:i:c:s0960077924013304. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Thayer, Thomas R. (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/chaos-solitons-and-fractals .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.