Conditional cooperation and the effect of punishment

Abstract

We study how punishment influences conditional cooperation. We ask two questions: 1) how does conditional cooperation change if a subject can be punished and 2) how does conditional cooperation change if a subject has the power to punish others. In particular, we disentangle the decision to be a conditional cooperator at all from the strength of conditional cooperation. We find that the possibility of being punished increases the strength of conditional cooperation. At the same time the possibility of being punished increases the number of free riders. In our study the net effect on cooperation still is positive. The possibility of punishing others has two effects: Substitution and responsibility. Players substitute conditional cooperation with punishment which leads to a decrease in conditional cooperation. The power to punish means more responsibility which leads to an increase in conditional cooperation. In our design the overall effect of responsibility is stronger than the effect of substitution. We conclude that the threat of being punished and the power to punish changes conditional cooperation behavior in several, unexpected, ways.

Variance, norms and cooperative behavior in public goods games

“…Our findings may enhance understanding of previous research on the use of punishment. Kirchkamp and Mill (2020) investigated how conditional cooperation changes when a participant can be punished or has the right to punish others. They found that the possibility of being punished increased the strength of conditional cooperation and the number of free riders, while the possibility of punishing others generally promoted cooperation.…”

False beliefs can bootstrap cooperative communities through social norms

“…Experimental research has shown that the threat of punishment can increase conditional cooperation (Fehr & Gachter, 2000 ; Lergetporer et al, 2014 ). However, punishment has also been shown to increase cheating, which might be due to defectors compensating for being punished by attempting to extract more from the public good (Kirchkamp & Mill, 2020 ). Players’ knowledge that cheaters can be punished can impact their behaviours.…”