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Experimental Evidence on Cooperation, Political Affiliation, and Group Size

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  • Helénsdotter, Ronja

    (Department of Economics, School of Business, Economics and Law, Göteborg University)

Abstract

The main objective of this paper is to strengthen the knowledge about the relationship be-tween cooperation and political affiliation. For this purpose, I carry out an incentivized N-person prisoner’s dilemma experiment. I find that left-wing voters cooperate more than right-wing voters in 3-person prisoner’s dilemmas. However, this difference in cooperation tapers off with group size due to a heterogeneous response to larger decision groups. While leftists cooperate less as the group size increases, I find no significant group size effect for rightists. These findings can partly be explained by differences in beliefs about the cooperativeness of others, but a substantial part remains unexplained.

Suggested Citation

  • Helénsdotter, Ronja, 2019. "Experimental Evidence on Cooperation, Political Affiliation, and Group Size," Working Papers in Economics 765, University of Gothenburg, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:hhs:gunwpe:0765
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Cooperation; Social dilemma; Political ideology; Group size; Experiment;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C71 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Game Theory and Bargaining Theory - - - Cooperative Games
    • C90 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - General
    • D70 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - General
    • D84 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Expectations; Speculations

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