The Economics of Altruistic Punishment and the Demise of Cooperation
Author(s) / Creator(s)
Egas, Martijn
Riedl, Arno
Abstract / Description
Explaining the evolution and maintenance of cooperation among unrelated individuals is one of the fundamental problems in biology and the social sciences. Recent experimental evidence suggests that altruistic punishment is an important mechanism to maintain cooperation among humans. In this paper we explore the boundary conditions for altruistic punishment to maintain cooperation by systematically varying the cost and impact of punishment, using a subject pool which extends beyond the standard student population. We find that the economics of altruistic punishment lead to the demise of cooperation when punishment is relatively expensive and/or has low impact. Our results indicate that the 'decision to punish' comes from an amalgam of emotional response and cognitive costbenefit analysis. Additionally, earnings are lowest when punishment promotes cooperation, suggesting that the scope for altruistic punishment as a means to maintain cooperation is limited.
Keyword(s)
Altruismus Strafe Kollektiv Experiment Altruismus Strafe Kollektiv Experiment altruistic punishment collective action public goods internet experimentPersistent Identifier
Date of first publication
2005
Is part of series
Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit/ Institute for the Study of Labor: IZA Discussion Paper Series;1646
Citation
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dp1646.pdfAdobe PDF - 294.15KBMD5: 571481da975848a7f40f64d455d64ece
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There are no other versions of this object.
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Author(s) / Creator(s)Egas, Martijn
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Author(s) / Creator(s)Riedl, Arno
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PsychArchives acquisition timestamp2022-11-17T11:01:30Z
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Made available on2008-06-30
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Made available on2015-12-01T10:32:16Z
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Made available on2022-11-17T11:01:30Z
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Date of first publication2005
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Abstract / DescriptionExplaining the evolution and maintenance of cooperation among unrelated individuals is one of the fundamental problems in biology and the social sciences. Recent experimental evidence suggests that altruistic punishment is an important mechanism to maintain cooperation among humans. In this paper we explore the boundary conditions for altruistic punishment to maintain cooperation by systematically varying the cost and impact of punishment, using a subject pool which extends beyond the standard student population. We find that the economics of altruistic punishment lead to the demise of cooperation when punishment is relatively expensive and/or has low impact. Our results indicate that the 'decision to punish' comes from an amalgam of emotional response and cognitive costbenefit analysis. Additionally, earnings are lowest when punishment promotes cooperation, suggesting that the scope for altruistic punishment as a means to maintain cooperation is limited.en
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Persistent Identifierhttps://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bsz:291-psydok-16670
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Persistent Identifierhttps://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11780/1147
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Persistent Identifierhttps://doi.org/10.23668/psycharchives.8882
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Language of contenteng
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Is part ofIZA Discussion Paper Series No. 1646
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Is part of seriesForschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit/ Institute for the Study of Labor: IZA Discussion Paper Series;1646
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Keyword(s)Altruismusde
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Keyword(s)Strafede
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Keyword(s)Kollektivde
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Keyword(s)Experimentde
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Keyword(s)Altruismusde
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Keyword(s)Strafede
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Keyword(s)Kollektivde
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Keyword(s)Experimentde
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Keyword(s)altruistic punishmenten
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Keyword(s)collective actionen
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Keyword(s)public goodsen
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Keyword(s)internet experimenten
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Dewey Decimal Classification number(s)150
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TitleThe Economics of Altruistic Punishment and the Demise of Cooperationen
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DRO typereport
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Visible tag(s)PsyDok