IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/ecolet/v188y2020ics0165176520300021.html

Conditional cooperation: Type stability across games

Author

Listed:
  • Eichenseer, Michael
  • Moser, Johannes

Abstract

To classify cooperation types, a sequential prisoner’s dilemma and a one-shot public goods game are convenient experimental setups. We explore the within subject stability of cooperation preferences in these two games. We find that the prisoner’s dilemma performs well in identifying conditional cooperators while it is only an imperfect tool for identifying selfish types in the public goods game.

Suggested Citation

  • Eichenseer, Michael & Moser, Johannes, 2020. "Conditional cooperation: Type stability across games," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 188(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecolet:v:188:y:2020:i:c:s0165176520300021
    DOI: 10.1016/j.econlet.2020.108941
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0165176520300021
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.econlet.2020.108941?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

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Martin G. Kocher & Peter Martinsson & Kristian Ove R. Myrseth & Conny E. Wollbrant, 2017. "Strong, bold, and kind: self-control and cooperation in social dilemmas," Experimental Economics, Springer;Economic Science Association, vol. 20(1), pages 44-69, March.
    2. Miettinen, Topi & Kosfeld, Michael & Fehr, Ernst & Weibull, Jörgen, 2020. "Revealed preferences in a sequential prisoners’ dilemma: A horse-race between six utility functions," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 173(C), pages 1-25.
    3. Thöni, Christian & Volk, Stefan, 2018. "Conditional cooperation: Review and refinement," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 171(C), pages 37-40.
    4. Francesco Fallucchi & R. Andrew Luccasen & Theodore L. Turocy, 2019. "Identifying discrete behavioural types: a re-analysis of public goods game contributions by hierarchical clustering," Journal of the Economic Science Association, Springer;Economic Science Association, vol. 5(2), pages 238-254, December.
    5. Fischbacher, Urs & Gachter, Simon & Fehr, Ernst, 2001. "Are people conditionally cooperative? Evidence from a public goods experiment," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 71(3), pages 397-404, June.
    6. Ernst Fehr & Simon Gächter, 2000. "Fairness and Retaliation: The Economics of Reciprocity," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 14(3), pages 159-181, Summer.
    7. Kocher, Martin G. & Cherry, Todd & Kroll, Stephan & Netzer, Robert J. & Sutter, Matthias, 2008. "Conditional cooperation on three continents," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 101(3), pages 175-178, December.
    8. Edward J. Cartwright & Denise Lovett, 2014. "Conditional Cooperation and the Marginal per Capita Return in Public Good Games," Games, MDPI, vol. 5(4), pages 1-23, November.
    9. Thöni, Christian & Tyran, Jean-Robert & Wengström, Erik, 2012. "Microfoundations of social capital," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 96(7-8), pages 635-643.
    10. Cherry, Todd L. & McEvoy, David M. & Sælen, Håkon, 2017. "Conditional cooperation and cultural worldviews," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 158(C), pages 51-53.
    11. Thomas Dohmen & Armin Falk & David Huffman & Uwe Sunde, 2009. "Homo Reciprocans: Survey Evidence on Behavioural Outcomes," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 119(536), pages 592-612, March.
    12. Kosfeld, Michael, 2019. "The Role of Leaders in Inducing and Maintaining Cooperation: The CC Strategy," IZA Discussion Papers 12540, IZA Network @ LISER.
    13. Blanco, Mariana & Engelmann, Dirk & Normann, Hans Theo, 2011. "A within-subject analysis of other-regarding preferences," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 72(2), pages 321-338, June.
    14. Volk, Stefan & Thöni, Christian & Ruigrok, Winfried, 2012. "Temporal stability and psychological foundations of cooperation preferences," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 81(2), pages 664-676.
    15. Rustagi, Devesh, 2010. "Conditional Cooperation and Costly Monitoring Explain Success in Forest Commons Management," MPRA Paper 124049, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    16. Albrecht, Felix & Kube, Sebastian & Traxler, Christian, 2018. "Cooperation and norm enforcement - The individual-level perspective," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 165(C), pages 1-16.
    17. Angela Oliveira & Rachel Croson & Catherine Eckel, 2015. "One bad apple? Heterogeneity and information in public good provision," Experimental Economics, Springer;Economic Science Association, vol. 18(1), pages 116-135, March.
    18. Michael Kosfeld & Devesh Rustagi, 2015. "Leader Punishment and Cooperation in Groups: Experimental Field Evidence from Commons Management in Ethiopia," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 105(2), pages 747-783, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Chowdhury Mohammad Sakib Anwar & Konstantinos Georgalos & Sonali SenGupta, 2025. "Position Uncertainty in a Prisoner's Dilemma Game : An Experiment," Papers 2504.10441, arXiv.org.
    2. Malte Baader & Simon Gaechter & Kyeongtae Lee & Martin Sefton, 2022. "Social preferences and the variability of conditional cooperation," Discussion Papers 2022-13, The Centre for Decision Research and Experimental Economics, School of Economics, University of Nottingham.
    3. Malte Baader & Simon Gächter & Kyeongtae Lee & Martin Sefton, 2026. "Social preferences and the variability of conditional cooperation," Economic Theory, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 81(1), pages 341-366, February.
    4. Gächter, Simon & Fages, Diego Marino, 2023. "Using the Strategy Method and Elicited Beliefs to Explain Group Size and MPCR Effects in Public Good Experiments," IZA Discussion Papers 16605, IZA Network @ LISER.
    5. Simon Gaechter & Kyeongtae Lee & Martin Sefton, 2022. "The Variability of Conditional Cooperation in Sequential Prisoner's Dilemmas," Discussion Papers 2022-10, The Centre for Decision Research and Experimental Economics, School of Economics, University of Nottingham.

    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. Michael Eichenseer & Johannes Moser, 2019. "Conditional cooperation: Type stability across games," Working Papers 186, Bavarian Graduate Program in Economics (BGPE).
    2. Baader, Malte & Gächter, Simon & Lee, Kyeongtae & Sefton, Martin, 2022. "Social Preferences and the Variability of Conditional Cooperation," IZA Discussion Papers 15523, IZA Network @ LISER.
    3. Kölle, Felix & Quercia, Simone, 2021. "The influence of empirical and normative expectations on cooperation," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 190(C), pages 691-703.
    4. Simon Gaechter & Kyeongtae Lee & Martin Sefton, 2022. "The Variability of Conditional Cooperation in Sequential Prisoner's Dilemmas," Discussion Papers 2022-10, The Centre for Decision Research and Experimental Economics, School of Economics, University of Nottingham.
    5. Gächter, Simon & Renner, Elke, 2018. "Leaders as role models and ‘belief managers’ in social dilemmas," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 154(C), pages 321-334.
    6. Weber, Till O. & Schulz, Jonathan F. & Beranek, Benjamin & Lambarraa-Lehnhardt, Fatima & Gächter, Simon, 2023. "The behavioral mechanisms of voluntary cooperation across culturally diverse societies: Evidence from the US, the UK, Morocco, and Turkey," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 215(C), pages 134-152.
    7. Malte Baader & Simon Gächter & Kyeongtae Lee & Martin Sefton, 2026. "Social preferences and the variability of conditional cooperation," Economic Theory, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 81(1), pages 341-366, February.
    8. Gächter, Simon & Kölle, Felix & Quercia, Simone, 2022. "Preferences and perceptions in Provision and Maintenance public goods," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 135(C), pages 338-355.
    9. Nyborg, Karine, 2018. "Reciprocal climate negotiators," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 707-725.
    10. Hoeft, Leonard & Mill, Wladislaw, 2024. "Abuse of power," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 220(C), pages 305-324.
    11. Furtner, Nadja C. & Kocher, Martin G. & Martinsson, Peter & Matzat, Dominik & Wollbrant, Conny, 2021. "Gender and cooperative preferences," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 181(C), pages 39-48.
    12. Edward Cartwright & Michalis Drouvelis, 2024. "Social framing effects in leadership by example: Preferences or beliefs?," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 62(4), pages 1629-1651, October.
    13. Gächter, Simon & Renner, Elke, 2014. "Leaders as Role Models for the Voluntary Provision of Public Goods," IZA Discussion Papers 8580, IZA Network @ LISER.
    14. Stephen Cheung, 2014. "New insights into conditional cooperation and punishment from a strategy method experiment," Experimental Economics, Springer;Economic Science Association, vol. 17(1), pages 129-153, March.
    15. Bilancini, Ennio & Boncinelli, Leonardo & Celadin, Tatiana, 2022. "Social value orientation and conditional cooperation in the online one-shot public goods game," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 200(C), pages 243-272.
    16. Simon Gaechter, 2014. "Human Pro-Social Motivation and the Maintenance of Social Order," CESifo Working Paper Series 4729, CESifo.
    17. Francesco Fallucchi & R. Andrew Luccasen & Theodore L. Turocy, 2019. "Identifying discrete behavioural types: a re-analysis of public goods game contributions by hierarchical clustering," Journal of the Economic Science Association, Springer;Economic Science Association, vol. 5(2), pages 238-254, December.
    18. Francesco Fallucchi & R. Andrew Luccasen & Theodore L. Turocy, 2017. "Behavioural types in public goods games: A re-analysis by hierarchical clutering," Working Paper series, University of East Anglia, Centre for Behavioural and Experimental Social Science (CBESS) 17-01, School of Economics, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK..
    19. Martinsson, Peter & Medhin, Haileselassie & Persson, Emil, 2016. "Framing and Minimum Levels in Public Good Provision," Working Papers in Economics 656, University of Gothenburg, Department of Economics.
    20. Vyrastekova, Jana & Funaki, Yukihiko, 2018. "Cooperation in a sequential dilemma game: How much transparency is good for cooperation?," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 88-95.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    • C72 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Game Theory and Bargaining Theory - - - Noncooperative Games
    • C91 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Laboratory, Individual Behavior
    • H41 - Public Economics - - Publicly Provided Goods - - - Public Goods

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:ecolet:v:188:y:2020:i:c:s0165176520300021. 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: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/ecolet .

    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.