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What Behaviors are Disapproved? Experimental Evidence from Five Dictator Games

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  • Raúl López-Pérez

    (Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Facultad de Ciencias Económicas, Departamento de Análisis Económico, Cantoblanco, 28049 Madrid, Spain)

  • Marc Vorsatz

    (Departamento de Análisis Económico II, Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia (UNED), Paseo Senda del Rey 11, 28040 Madrid, Spain
    Fundación de Estudios de Economía Aplicada (FEDEA), Calle Jorge Juan 46, 28001 Madrid, Spain)

Abstract

The literature on social norms has often stressed that social disapproval is crucial to foster compliance with norms and promote fair and cooperative behavior. With this in mind, we explore the disapproval of allocation decisions using experimental data from five dictator games with a feedback stage. Our data suggests that subjects are heterogeneous in their disapproval patterns, distinguishing two main groups: (1) Subjects who only disapprove choices that harm them, and (2) subjects who disapprove socially inefficient choices.

Suggested Citation

  • Raúl López-Pérez & Marc Vorsatz, 2012. "What Behaviors are Disapproved? Experimental Evidence from Five Dictator Games," Games, MDPI, vol. 3(2), pages 1-19, April.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jgames:v:3:y:2012:i:2:p:78-96:d:17340
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    1. Lindokuhle Njozela & Justine Burns & Arnim Langer, 2018. "The Effects of Social Exclusion and Group Heterogeneity on the Provision of Public Goods," Games, MDPI, vol. 9(3), pages 1-21, August.

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