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Enforcing cooperation in public goods games: Is one punisher enough?

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  • Grieco, Daniela
  • Faillo, Marco
  • Zarri, Luca

Abstract

We experimentally investigate a finitely repeated public goods game setting where, in each round, access to sanctioning power is exclusively awarded to one single player per group. We show that our central ‘Top Contributors as Punishers’ institution – a mechanism by which a player needs to be the highest contributor in her group in order to earn the right to sanction others – is extremely effective in raising cooperation and welfare due to turnover in the top contributor role and to top contributors’ willingness to substantially sanction others. Our findings yield implications for the design of mechanisms intended to foster cooperation in social dilemma environments.

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  • Grieco, Daniela & Faillo, Marco & Zarri, Luca, 2017. "Enforcing cooperation in public goods games: Is one punisher enough?," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 55-73.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:joepsy:v:61:y:2017:i:c:p:55-73
    DOI: 10.1016/j.joep.2017.03.007
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    Cited by:

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    2. Chowdhury Mohammad Sakib Anwar & Alexander Matros & Sonali Sen Gupta, 2018. "Tax Evasion, Embezzlement and Public Good Provision," Working Papers 232397285, Lancaster University Management School, Economics Department.
    3. Billinger, Stephan & Rosenbaum, Stephen Mark, 2023. "On the limits of hierarchy in public goods games: A survey and meta-analysis on the effects of design variables on cooperation," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 107(C).
    4. Kirchkamp, Oliver & Mill, Wladislaw, 2020. "Conditional cooperation and the effect of punishment," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 174(C), pages 150-172.
    5. Alventosa, Adriana & Antonioni, Alberto & Hernández, Penélope, 2021. "Pool punishment in public goods games: How do sanctioners’ incentives affect us?," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 185(C), pages 513-537.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Public goods games; Cooperation; Top contributors; Peer punishment; Behavioral mechanism design;
    All these 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
    • D02 - Microeconomics - - General - - - Institutions: Design, Formation, Operations, and Impact
    • D63 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Equity, Justice, Inequality, and Other Normative Criteria and Measurement

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