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The role of egalitarian motives in altruistic punishment

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  • Johnson, Tim
  • Dawes, Christopher T.
  • Fowler, James H.
  • McElreath, Richard
  • Smirnov, Oleg

Abstract

We conduct experiments in which subjects participate in both a game that measures preferences for income equality and a public goods game involving costly punishment. The results indicate that individuals who care about equality are those who are most willing to punish free-riders in public goods games.

Suggested Citation

  • Johnson, Tim & Dawes, Christopher T. & Fowler, James H. & McElreath, Richard & Smirnov, Oleg, 2009. "The role of egalitarian motives in altruistic punishment," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 102(3), pages 192-194, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecolet:v:102:y:2009:i:3:p:192-194
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    4. Armin Falk & Ernst Fehr & Urs Fischbacher, "undated". "Driving Forces of Informal Sanctions," IEW - Working Papers 059, Institute for Empirical Research in Economics - University of Zurich.
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    7. James H. Fowler & Tim Johnson & Oleg Smirnov, 2005. "Egalitarian motive and altruistic punishment," Nature, Nature, vol. 433(7021), pages 1-1, January.
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    Cited by:

    1. Brekke, Kjell Arne & Hauge, Karen Evelyn & Lind, Jo Thori & Nyborg, Karine, 2011. "Playing with the good guys. A public good game with endogenous group formation," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(9-10), pages 1111-1118, October.
    2. Andreas Nicklisch & Irenaeus Wolff, 2011. "Cooperation Norms in Multiple‐Stage Punishment," Journal of Public Economic Theory, Association for Public Economic Theory, vol. 13(5), pages 791-827, October.
    3. Christian Thöni, 2014. "Inequality aversion and antisocial punishment," Theory and Decision, Springer, vol. 76(4), pages 529-545, April.
    4. Nicolas Baumard, 2011. "Punishment is not a group adaptation," Mind & Society: Cognitive Studies in Economics and Social Sciences, Springer;Fondazione Rosselli, vol. 10(1), pages 1-26, June.
    5. Marek Meristo & Luca Surian, 2014. "Infants Distinguish Antisocial Actions Directed towards Fair and Unfair Agents," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 9(10), pages 1-7, October.
    6. Hoeft, Leonard & Mill, Wladislaw, 2017. "Selfish punishers," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 157(C), pages 41-44.
    7. Li, Yixiao & Jin, Xiaogang & Su, Xianchuang & Kong, Fansheng & Peng, Chengbin, 2010. "Cooperation and charity in spatial public goods game under different strategy update rules," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 389(5), pages 1090-1098.
    8. Wang, Xianjia & Ding, Rui & Zhao, Jinhua & Chen, Wenman & Gu, Cuiling, 2022. "Competition of punishment and reward among inequity-averse individuals in spatial public goods games," Chaos, Solitons & Fractals, Elsevier, vol. 156(C).
    9. Engel, Christoph, 2014. "Social preferences can make imperfect sanctions work: Evidence from a public good experiment," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 108(C), pages 343-353.
    10. Nicolas Baumard, 2010. "Has punishment played a role in the evolution of cooperation? A critical review," Mind & Society: Cognitive Studies in Economics and Social Sciences, Springer;Fondazione Rosselli, vol. 9(2), pages 171-192, December.
    11. Christoph Engel, 2013. "Deterrence by Imperfect Sanctions – A Public Good Experiment," Discussion Paper Series of the Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods 2013_09, Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods.
    12. John D. Marvel, 2020. "Evolution and egalitarianism: A behavioral account of managers' performance pay decisions," Journal of Behavioral Public Administration, Center for Experimental and Behavioral Public Administration, vol. 3(2).
    13. Leibbrandt, Andreas & López-Pérez, Raúl, 2011. "Individual Heterogeneity in Punishment and Reward," Working Papers in Economic Theory 2011/01, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (Spain), Department of Economic Analysis (Economic Theory and Economic History).
    14. Goeschl, Timo & Jarke, Johannes, 2013. "Second vs. Third Party Punishment under Costly Monitoringː A New Experimental Method and Evidence," WiSo-HH Working Paper Series 6, University of Hamburg, Faculty of Business, Economics and Social Sciences, WISO Research Laboratory.
    15. Hoeft, Leonard & Mill, Wladislaw, 2024. "Abuse of power," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 220(C), pages 305-324.
    16. Molnar, Andras & Chaudhry, Shereen J. & Loewenstein, George, 2023. "“It’s not about the money. It’s about sending a message!” Avengers want offenders to understand the reason for revenge," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 174(C).
    17. Jonathan E Bone & Katherine McAuliffe & Nichola J Raihani, 2016. "Exploring the Motivations for Punishment: Framing and Country-Level Effects," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 11(8), pages 1-14, August.
    18. Yoshio Iida, 2020. "Confidence, power and distributive preferences," Mind & Society: Cognitive Studies in Economics and Social Sciences, Springer;Fondazione Rosselli, vol. 19(2), pages 207-222, November.
    19. Andras Molnar & Shereen J. Chaudhry & George Loewenstein, 2020. ""It's Not about the Money. It's about Sending a Message!" Unpacking the Components of Revenge," CESifo Working Paper Series 8102, CESifo.
    20. Leibbrandt, Andreas & López-Pérez, Raúl & Spiegelman, Eli, 2023. "Reciprocal, but inequality averse as well? Mixed motives for punishment and reward," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 210(C), pages 91-116.
    21. Peter Katuščák & Tomáš Miklánek, 2023. "What drives conditional cooperation in public good games?," Experimental Economics, Springer;Economic Science Association, vol. 26(2), pages 435-467, April.
    22. Aimone, Jason A. & Butera, Luigi & Stratmann, Thomas, 2018. "Altruistic punishment in elections," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 149-160.
    23. Tim Johnson & Christopher T. Dawes & James H. Fowler & Oleg Smirnov, 2020. "Slowing COVID-19 transmission as a social dilemma: Lessons for government officials from interdisciplinary research on cooperation," Journal of Behavioral Public Administration, Center for Experimental and Behavioral Public Administration, vol. 3(1).

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