Discussion Papers no. 359

Indirect social sanctions from monetarily unaffected strangers in a public good game

Several economists have maintained that social sanctions can enforce cooperation in public good situations. This experimental study investigates whether indirect social sanctions from monetarily unaffected observers can increase contributions to a public good. The experiment has two treatment effects. First, each participant's identity and contribution to the public good is revealed to the monetarily unaffected observers. Second, information affecting participants’ beliefs about the degree to which the observers are contributors is introduced. The data suggests that indirect social sanctions from monetarily unaffected observers can increase voluntary contributions to public goods, provided that the subjects have reason to believe that the observers themselves are strong contributors.

Om publikasjonen

Tittel

Indirect social sanctions from monetarily unaffected strangers in a public good game

Ansvarlige

Mari Rege, Kjetil Telle

Serie og -nummer

Discussion Papers no. 359

Utgiver

Statistics Norway

Emne

Discussion Papers

Antall sider

18

Målform

Engelsk

Om Discussion Papers

Discussion papers comprise research papers intended for international journals and books. A preprint of a Discussion Paper may be longer and more elaborate than a standard journal article as it may include intermediate calculations, background material etc.

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