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Voting, Punishment, And Public Goods

Author

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  • STEPHAN KROLL
  • TODD L. CHERRY
  • JASON F. SHOGREN

Abstract

Researchers have found that voting can help increase voluntary contributions to a public good—provided enforcement through a third party. Not all collective agreements, however, guarantee third‐party enforcement. We design an experiment to explore whether a voting rule with and without endogenous punishment increases contributions to a public good. Our results suggest that voting by itself does not increase cooperation, but if voters can punish violators, contributions increase significantly. While costly punishment increases contributions at the price of lower efficiency, overall efficiency for a voting‐with‐punishment rule still exceeds the level observed for a voting‐without‐punishment rule. (JEL C92, D72, H41)

Suggested Citation

  • Stephan Kroll & Todd L. Cherry & Jason F. Shogren, 2007. "Voting, Punishment, And Public Goods," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 45(3), pages 557-570, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:ecinqu:v:45:y:2007:i:3:p:557-570
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1465-7295.2007.00028.x
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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • C92 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Laboratory, Group Behavior
    • D72 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior
    • H41 - Public Economics - - Publicly Provided Goods - - - Public Goods

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