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Collective action and other-regarding behavior: an assessment of games vs reality in Thailand

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  • Rawadee Jarungrattanapong

    (Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University)

  • Suparee Boonmanunt

    (Mahidol University)

Abstract

In social dilemmas where personal benefits are in conflict with collective benefits, there is an incentive for people to behave non-cooperatively as free-riders. However, everyday observation reveals seemingly unselfish behavior or so-called “other-regarding behavior,” which can be a motivation driving conservation decisions. This study presents evidence on how villagers behave in other-regarding games (the dictator game, trust game, and public good game), and how they behave in their actual collective actions in community conservation activities. Findings of the public good game had significant external validity with actual cooperative activities, suggesting that voluntary cooperation behavior plays a key role in real-life cooperative decision-making. However, none of the results of the answers to attitudinal trust questions provides any predictive value in estimating participation rates in conservation activities.

Suggested Citation

  • Rawadee Jarungrattanapong & Suparee Boonmanunt, 2020. "Collective action and other-regarding behavior: an assessment of games vs reality in Thailand," Environmental Economics and Policy Studies, Springer;Society for Environmental Economics and Policy Studies - SEEPS, vol. 22(4), pages 485-507, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:envpol:v:22:y:2020:i:4:d:10.1007_s10018-020-00266-7
    DOI: 10.1007/s10018-020-00266-7
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    Cited by:

    1. Nhim, Tum & Schuch, Esther & Richter, Andries, 2023. "Water scarcity and support for costly institutions in public goods: Experimental evidence from Cambodia," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 212(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Cooperation; External validity problem; Collective action; Lab-in-the-field experiment;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C90 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - General
    • D64 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Altruism; Philanthropy; Intergenerational Transfers
    • H41 - Public Economics - - Publicly Provided Goods - - - Public Goods
    • Q20 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Renewable Resources and Conservation - - - General

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