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Indirect Reciprocity and Prosocial Behaviour: Evidence from a Natural Field Experiment

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  • Redzo Mujcic
  • Andreas Leibbrandt

Abstract

Some of the greatest human achievements are difficult to imagine without prosociality. This article employs a natural field experiment to investigate indirect reciprocity in natural social interactions. We find strong evidence of indirect reciprocity in one†shot interactions among drivers. Subjects for whom other drivers stopped were more than twice as likely to extend a similar act to a third party. This result is robust to a number of factors including age, gender, social status, presence of onlookers, and the opportunity cost of time. We provide novel evidence for the power of indirect reciprocity to promote prosocial behaviour in the field.

Suggested Citation

  • Redzo Mujcic & Andreas Leibbrandt, 2018. "Indirect Reciprocity and Prosocial Behaviour: Evidence from a Natural Field Experiment," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 128(611), pages 1683-1699, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:econjl:v:128:y:2018:i:611:p:1683-1699
    DOI: 10.1111/ecoj.12474
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    2. Dolan, Paul & Krekel, Christian & Shreedhar, Ganga & Lee, Helen & Marshall, Claire & Smith, Allison, 2021. "Happy to Help: The Welfare Effects of a Nationwide Micro-Volunteering Programme," IZA Discussion Papers 14431, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    3. Sabrina Jeworrek & Joschka Waibel, 2021. "Unethical employee behavior against coworkers following unkind management treatment: An experimental analysis," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 42(5), pages 1220-1234, July.
    4. Isamu Okada, 2020. "A Review of Theoretical Studies on Indirect Reciprocity," Games, MDPI, vol. 11(3), pages 1-17, July.
    5. Yuan Yuan & Tracy Liu & Chenhao Tan & Qian Chen & Alex Pentland & Jie Tang, 2019. "Gift Contagion in Online Groups: Evidence From Virtual Red Packets," Papers 1906.09698, arXiv.org, revised Aug 2023.
    6. Jeworrek, Sabrina & Leisen, Bernd Josef & Mertins, Vanessa, 2020. "Gift-exchange in society and the social integration of refugees: Evidence from a field, a laboratory, and a survey experiment," IWH Discussion Papers 17/2019, Halle Institute for Economic Research (IWH), revised 2020.
    7. Wendelin Schneder & Nina Lucia Stephan, 2018. "Revisiting a remedy against the chain of unkindness," Working Papers Dissertations 45, Paderborn University, Faculty of Business Administration and Economics.
    8. Shibly Shahrier & Koji Kotani & Tatsuyoshi Saijo, 2017. "Intergenerational sustainability dilemma and a potential solution: Future ahead and back mechanism," Working Papers SDES-2017-9, Kochi University of Technology, School of Economics and Management, revised Aug 2017.
    9. Husiatyński, Maciej, 2021. "Three essays on individual behavior and new technologies," Other publications TiSEM 1a7d7036-3d54-4a7b-a425-e, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    10. Wendelin Schnedler & Nina Lucia Stephan, 2019. "When letter writing increases kindness: Regulating emotions or activating pro-social thinking?," Working Papers Dissertations 29, Paderborn University, Faculty of Business Administration and Economics.
    11. Ann-Kathrin Crede, 2020. "Discussion of “Revisiting a Remedy Against Chains of Unkindness”," Schmalenbach Business Review, Springer;Schmalenbach-Gesellschaft, vol. 72(3), pages 365-368, July.
    12. Jeworrek, Sabrina & Leisen, Bernd Josef & Mertins, Vanessa, 2021. "Gift-exchange in society and the social integration of refugees–Evidence from a survey, a laboratory, and a field experiment," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 192(C), pages 482-499.
    13. Sautua, Santiago I., 2022. "Donation requests following a pay rise," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
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