IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/jpbect/v16y2014i6p899-916.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Non-Governmental Public Norm Enforcement in Large Societies as a Two-Stage Game of Voluntary Public Good Provision

Author

Listed:
  • WOLFGANG BUCHHOLZ
  • JOSEF FALKINGER
  • DIRK RÜBBELKE

Abstract

In small groups, norm enforcement is achieved through mutual punishment and reward. In large societies, norms are enforced by specialists such as government officials. However, not every public cause is overseen by states, for instance those organized at the international level. This paper shows how nongovernmental norm enforcement can emerge as a decentralized equilibrium. As a first stage, individuals voluntarily contribute to a nongovernmental agency that produces an incentive system. The second stage is the provision of a public good on the basis of private contributions. The incentive system increases contributions by means of public approval or disapproval of behavior. It is shown that, even in large populations, nongovernmental norm enforcement can be supported in a noncooperative equilibrium of utility-maximizing individuals. This result is in sharp contrast to those obtained in the standard situation of voluntary provision of an intrinsic public good which—without altruism or related motives—is eroded by free-riding. Reliance on altruistic behavior is not required in supplying the second-order public good “norm enforcement” in large societies.

Suggested Citation

  • Wolfgang Buchholz & Josef Falkinger & Dirk Rübbelke, 2014. "Non-Governmental Public Norm Enforcement in Large Societies as a Two-Stage Game of Voluntary Public Good Provision," Journal of Public Economic Theory, Association for Public Economic Theory, vol. 16(6), pages 899-916, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:jpbect:v:16:y:2014:i:6:p:899-916
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1111/jpet.12084
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version below or search for a different version of it.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Becker, Gary S, 1974. "A Theory of Social Interactions," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 82(6), pages 1063-1093, Nov.-Dec..
    2. Michael Kosfeld & Akira Okada & Arno Riedl, 2009. "Institution Formation in Public Goods Games," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 99(4), pages 1335-1355, September.
    3. Buchholz, Wolfgang & Cornes, Richard & Rübbelke, Dirk, 2011. "Interior matching equilibria in a public good economy: An aggregative game approach," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(7), pages 639-645.
    4. Josef Falkinger & Johann K. Brunner, 1999. "Taxation in an economy with private provision of public goods," Review of Economic Design, Springer;Society for Economic Design, vol. 4(4), pages 357-379.
    5. Falkinger, Josef, 1996. "Efficient private provision of public goods by rewarding deviations from average," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 62(3), pages 413-422, November.
    6. Cornes,Richard & Sandler,Todd, 1996. "The Theory of Externalities, Public Goods, and Club Goods," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521477185, September.
    7. Kirchsteiger, Georg & Puppe, Clemens, 1997. "On the possibility of efficient private provision of public goods through government subsidies," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 66(3), pages 489-504, December.
    8. Simon Gachter & Ernst Fehr, 2000. "Cooperation and Punishment in Public Goods Experiments," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 90(4), pages 980-994, September.
    9. Ananish Chaudhuri, 2011. "Sustaining cooperation in laboratory public goods experiments: a selective survey of the literature," Experimental Economics, Springer;Economic Science Association, vol. 14(1), pages 47-83, March.
    10. Carpenter, Jeffrey P., 2007. "Punishing free-riders: How group size affects mutual monitoring and the provision of public goods," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 60(1), pages 31-51, July.
    11. Cornes, Richard & Hartley, Roger, 2003. "Risk Aversion, Heterogeneity and Contests," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 117(1-2), pages 1-25, October.
    12. Josef Falkinger, 2004. "Noncooperative Support of Public Norm Enforcement in Large Societies," CESifo Working Paper Series 1368, CESifo.
    13. Richard Cornes & Roger Hartley, 2007. "Aggregative Public Good Games," Journal of Public Economic Theory, Association for Public Economic Theory, vol. 9(2), pages 201-219, April.
    14. Ernst Fehr & Simon Gächter, 2002. "Altruistic punishment in humans," Nature, Nature, vol. 415(6868), pages 137-140, January.
    15. Finnemore, Martha & Sikkink, Kathryn, 1998. "International Norm Dynamics and Political Change," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 52(4), pages 887-917, October.
    16. Okada, Akira, 1993. "The Possibility of Cooperation in an n-Person Prisoners' Dilemma with Institutional Arrangements," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 77(3), pages 629-656, November.
    17. Andreoni, James, 1990. "Impure Altruism and Donations to Public Goods: A Theory of Warm-Glow Giving?," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 100(401), pages 464-477, June.
    18. Andreoni, James, 1988. "Privately provided public goods in a large economy: The limits of altruism," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 35(1), pages 57-73, February.
    19. Samuel Bowles & Sandra Polania-Reyes, 2012. "Economic Incentives and Social Preferences: Substitutes or Complements?," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 50(2), pages 368-425, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Ulph, Alistair & Ulph, David, 2014. "Consumption Decisions When People Value Conformity," SIRE Discussion Papers 2015-16, Scottish Institute for Research in Economics (SIRE).
    2. Partha Dasgupta & Dale Southerton & Alistair Ulph & David Ulph, 2016. "Consumer Behaviour with Environmental and Social Externalities: Implications for Analysis and Policy," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 65(1), pages 191-226, September.
    3. Christiane Reif & Dirk Rübbelke & Andreas Löschel, 2017. "Improving Voluntary Public Good Provision Through a Non-governmental, Endogenous Matching Mechanism: Experimental Evidence," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 67(3), pages 559-589, July.
    4. Epperson, Raphael & Reif, Christiane, 2018. "Matching schemes and public goods: A review," ZEW Discussion Papers 17-070, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research, revised 2018.
    5. Andreas Löschel & Dirk Rübbelke, 2014. "On the Voluntary Provision of International Public Goods," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 81(322), pages 195-204, April.
    6. Martin Kesternich & Christiane Reif & Dirk Rübbelke, 2017. "Recent Trends in Behavioral Environmental Economics," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 67(3), pages 403-411, July.
    7. Alistair Ulph & David Ulph, 2014. "Consumption Decisions When People Value Conformity," Discussion Paper Series, School of Economics and Finance 201414, School of Economics and Finance, University of St Andrews.
    8. Molina, Chai & Akcay, Erol & Dieckmann, Ulf & Levin, Simon & Rovenskaya, Elena A., 2018. "Combating climate change with matching-commitment agreements," SocArXiv 7yc3g, Center for Open Science.
    9. Reif, Christiane & Rübbelke, Dirk & Löschel, Andreas, 2014. "Improving voluntary public good provision by a non-governmental, endogenous matching mechanism: Experimental evidence," CAWM Discussion Papers 73, University of Münster, Münster Center for Economic Policy (MEP).
    10. Partha Dasgupta & Dale Southerton & Alistair Ulph & David Ulph, 2014. "Consumer Behaviour in a Social Context: Implications for Environmental Policy," Discussion Paper Series, School of Economics and Finance 201407, School of Economics and Finance, University of St Andrews.
    11. Dasgupta, Partha & Southerton, Dale & Ulph, Alistair & Ulph, David, 2014. "Consumer Behaviour in a Social Context: Implications for Environmental Policy," SIRE Discussion Papers 2015-10, Scottish Institute for Research in Economics (SIRE).
    12. Grafton, R. Quentin & Kompas, Tom & Long, Ngo Van, 2017. "A brave new world? Kantian–Nashian interaction and the dynamics of global climate change mitigation," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 99(C), pages 31-42.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Andreas Löschel & Dirk Rübbelke, 2014. "On the Voluntary Provision of International Public Goods," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 81(322), pages 195-204, April.
    2. Wolfgang Buchholz & Richard Cornes & Dirk T. G. Rübbelke, 2009. "Existence and Warr Neutrality for Matching Equilibria in a Public Good Economy: An Aggregative Game Approach," CESifo Working Paper Series 2884, CESifo.
    3. Michael Kosfeld & Akira Okada & Arno Riedl, 2009. "Institution Formation in Public Goods Games," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 99(4), pages 1335-1355, September.
    4. Wolfgang Buchholz & Richard Cornes & Dirk Rübbelke, 2014. "Potentially Harmful International Cooperation on Global Public Good Provision," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 81(322), pages 205-223, April.
    5. Wolfgang Buchholz & Richard Cornes & Dirk Rübbelke, 2020. "Matching in the Kolm triangle: interiority and participation constraints of matching equilibria," Journal of Economic Studies, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 47(5), pages 1039-1050, April.
    6. Buchholz, Wolfgang & Cornes, Richard & Rübbelke, Dirk, 2011. "Interior matching equilibria in a public good economy: An aggregative game approach," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(7), pages 639-645.
    7. Christiane Reif & Dirk Rübbelke & Andreas Löschel, 2017. "Improving Voluntary Public Good Provision Through a Non-governmental, Endogenous Matching Mechanism: Experimental Evidence," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 67(3), pages 559-589, July.
    8. Wolfgang Buchholz & Richard Cornes & Dirk Rübbelke, 2011. "Matching as a Cure for Underprovision of Voluntary Public Good Supply: Analysis and an Example," CESifo Working Paper Series 3374, CESifo.
    9. Weifeng Liu, 2014. "Participation constraints of matching mechanisms," CAMA Working Papers 2014-63, Centre for Applied Macroeconomic Analysis, Crawford School of Public Policy, The Australian National University.
    10. Josef Falkinger, 2004. "Noncooperative Support of Public Norm Enforcement in Large Societies," CESifo Working Paper Series 1368, CESifo.
    11. Buchholz, Wolfgang & Cornes, Richard & Rübbelke, Dirk, 2012. "Matching as a cure for underprovision of voluntary public good supply," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 117(3), pages 727-729.
    12. KAMEI Kenju, 2022. "Self-regulatory Resources and Institutional Formation: A first experimental test," Discussion papers 22084, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).
    13. Karen Pittel & Dirk T.G. Rübbelke, 2006. "Private provision of public goods: incentives for donations," Journal of Economic Studies, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 33(6), pages 497-519, November.
    14. Rojas, Cristian & Cinner, Joshua, 2020. "Do market and trust contexts spillover into public goods contributions? Evidence from experimental games in Papua New Guinea," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 174(C).
    15. Felix Koelle & Thomas Lauer, 2018. "Cooperation, Discounting, and the Effects of Delayed Costs and Benefits," Discussion Papers 2018-10, The Centre for Decision Research and Experimental Economics, School of Economics, University of Nottingham.
    16. Faillo, Marco & Grieco, Daniela & Zarri, Luca, 2013. "Legitimate punishment, feedback, and the enforcement of cooperation," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 77(1), pages 271-283.
    17. Kamei, Kenju, 2024. "Self-regulatory resources and institutional formation: An experiment," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 222(C), pages 354-374.
    18. Albrecht, Felix & Kube, Sebastian & Traxler, Christian, 2018. "Cooperation and norm enforcement - The individual-level perspective," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 165(C), pages 1-16.
    19. Cason, Timothy N. & Gangadharan, Lata, 2013. "Empowering neighbors versus imposing regulations: An experimental analysis of pollution reduction schemes," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 65(3), pages 469-484.
    20. Nathan W. Chan, 2019. "Funding Global Environmental Public Goods Through Multilateral Financial Mechanisms," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 73(2), pages 515-531, June.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • H41 - Public Economics - - Publicly Provided Goods - - - Public Goods
    • K40 - Law and Economics - - Legal Procedure, the Legal System, and Illegal Behavior - - - General
    • Z13 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Economic Sociology; Economic Anthropology; Language; Social and Economic Stratification

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:jpbect:v:16:y:2014:i:6:p:899-916. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/apettea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.