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Conditional Cooperation and the Marginal per Capita Return in Public Good Games

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  • Edward J. Cartwright

    (School of Economics, University of Kent, Canterbury, Kent CT2 7NP, UK)

  • Denise Lovett

    (School of Economics, University of Kent, Canterbury, Kent CT2 7NP, UK)

Abstract

We investigate experimentally whether the extent of conditional cooperation in public good games depends on the marginal per capita return (MPCR) to the public good and type of game. The MPCR is varied from 0.2 to 0.4 to 0.8. The ‘standard’ game, in which three players contribute before a follower, is compared with a leader-follower game, in which one player leads and three follow. Even though we observe less conditional cooperation for an MPCR of 0.2, the prevalence of conditional cooperation remains relatively stable to changes in the MPCR and game timing. In contrast, the level of MPCR has a strong effect on unconditional contributions. Our results highlight the critical role played by leaders in a public good game.

Suggested Citation

  • Edward J. Cartwright & Denise Lovett, 2014. "Conditional Cooperation and the Marginal per Capita Return in Public Good Games," Games, MDPI, vol. 5(4), pages 1-23, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jgames:v:5:y:2014:i:4:p:234-256:d:42378
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    Cited by:

    1. Béatrice BOULU-RESHEF & Nina RAPOPORT, "undated". "Voluntary contributions in cascades: The tragedy of ill-informed leadership," LEO Working Papers / DR LEO 2824, Orleans Economics Laboratory / Laboratoire d'Economie d'Orleans (LEO), University of Orleans.
    2. Béatrice Boulu-Reshef & Nina Rapoport, 2020. "Voluntary contributions in cascades: The tragedy of ill-informed leadership," Université Paris1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (Post-Print and Working Papers) halshs-02977853, HAL.
    3. Vyrastekova, Jana & Funaki, Yukihiko, 2018. "Cooperation in a sequential dilemma game: How much transparency is good for cooperation?," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 88-95.
    4. Markus Sass & Florian Timme & Joachim Weimann, 2018. "Cooperation of Pairs," Games, MDPI, vol. 9(3), pages 1-34, September.
    5. Angelovski, Andrej & Di Cagno, Daniela & Güth, Werner & Marazzi, Francesca & Panaccione, Luca, 2018. "Behavioral spillovers in local public good provision: An experimental study," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 116-134.
    6. Eichenseer, Michael & Moser, Johannes, 2020. "Conditional cooperation: Type stability across games," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 188(C).
    7. Francesco Fallucchi & R. Andrew Luccasen & Theodore L. Turocy, 2017. "Behavioural types in public goods games: A re-analysis by hierarchical clutering," Working Paper series, University of East Anglia, Centre for Behavioural and Experimental Social Science (CBESS) 17-01, School of Economics, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK..
    8. Aurélie Dariel, 2018. "Conditional Cooperation and Framing Effects," Games, MDPI, vol. 9(2), pages 1-12, June.
    9. Francesco Fallucchi & R. Andrew Luccasen & Theodore L. Turocy, 2017. "Behavioural types in public goods games: A re-analysis by hierarchical clutering," Working Paper series, University of East Anglia, Centre for Behavioural and Experimental Social Science (CBESS) 17-01R, School of Economics, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK..
    10. Edward Cartwright & Michalis Drouvelis, 2020. "Social Framing Effects in Leadership: Preferences or Beliefs?," CESifo Working Paper Series 8600, CESifo.
    11. Francesco Fallucchi & R. Andrew Luccasen & Theodore L. Turocy, 2019. "Identifying discrete behavioural types: a re-analysis of public goods game contributions by hierarchical clustering," Journal of the Economic Science Association, Springer;Economic Science Association, vol. 5(2), pages 238-254, December.
    12. Yansong Li & Zhenliang Liu & Yuqian Wang & Edmund Derrington & Frederic Moisan & Jean-Claude Dreher, 2023. "Spillover effects of competition outcome on future risky cooperation," Post-Print hal-04325682, HAL.

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