Punishment, Inequality and Emotions
Author(s) / Creator(s)
Masclet, David
Villeval, Marie-Claire
Abstract / Description
Cooperation among people who are not related to each other is sustained by the availability of punishment devices which help enforce social norms (Fehr and Gächter, 2002). However, the rationale for costly punishment remains unclear. This paper reports the results of an experiment investigating inequality aversion and negative emotions as possible determinants of punishment. We compare two treatments of a public good game, one in which costly punishment reduces the immediate payoff inequality between the punisher and the target, and one in which it does not affect inequality. We show that while inequality-aversion prevents some subjects from punishing in the equal cost treatment, negative emotions are the primary motive for punishment. Results also indicate that the intensity of punishment increases with the level of inequality, and reduces earnings inequality over time.
Keyword(s)
Ungleichheit Strafe Gefühl Experiment Ungleichheit Strafe Gefühl Experiment inequality aversion negative emotions free-riding cooperation experimentPersistent Identifier
Date of first publication
2006
Is part of series
Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit/ Institute for the Study of Labor: IZA Discussion Paper Series;2119
Citation
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dp2119.pdfAdobe PDF - 332.05KBMD5: f398679a8b6c956a2d59b4fb58525fda
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There are no other versions of this object.
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Author(s) / Creator(s)Masclet, David
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Author(s) / Creator(s)Villeval, Marie-Claire
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PsychArchives acquisition timestamp2022-11-17T11:01:16Z
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Made available on2008-06-09
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Made available on2015-12-01T10:32:13Z
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Made available on2022-11-17T11:01:16Z
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Date of first publication2006
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Abstract / DescriptionCooperation among people who are not related to each other is sustained by the availability of punishment devices which help enforce social norms (Fehr and Gächter, 2002). However, the rationale for costly punishment remains unclear. This paper reports the results of an experiment investigating inequality aversion and negative emotions as possible determinants of punishment. We compare two treatments of a public good game, one in which costly punishment reduces the immediate payoff inequality between the punisher and the target, and one in which it does not affect inequality. We show that while inequality-aversion prevents some subjects from punishing in the equal cost treatment, negative emotions are the primary motive for punishment. Results also indicate that the intensity of punishment increases with the level of inequality, and reduces earnings inequality over time.en
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Persistent Identifierhttps://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bsz:291-psydok-16533
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Persistent Identifierhttps://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11780/1118
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Persistent Identifierhttps://doi.org/10.23668/psycharchives.8865
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Language of contenteng
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Is part ofIZA Discussion Paper Series No. 2119
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Is part of seriesForschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit/ Institute for the Study of Labor: IZA Discussion Paper Series;2119
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Keyword(s)Ungleichheitde
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Keyword(s)Strafede
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Keyword(s)Gefühlde
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Keyword(s)Experimentde
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Keyword(s)Ungleichheitde
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Keyword(s)Strafede
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Keyword(s)Gefühlde
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Keyword(s)Experimentde
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Keyword(s)inequality aversionen
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Keyword(s)negative emotionsen
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Keyword(s)free-ridingen
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Keyword(s)cooperationen
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Keyword(s)experimenten
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Dewey Decimal Classification number(s)150
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TitlePunishment, Inequality and Emotionsen
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DRO typereport
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Visible tag(s)PsyDok