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Group Reputations, Stereotypes, and Cooperation in a Repeated Labor Market

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In a world of incomplete, unenforceable contracts, both reputation effects and fairness concerns have been suggested as mechanisms capable of avoiding or mitigating market failure. Existing experiments show that labor market failure can be avoided in the absence of individual reputations, apparently due to subjects' other-regarding preferences. This paper introduces a reputation equilibrium with stereotyping (modeled as a belief of type correlation) that predicts cooperation even when individual reputations effects are weak. New experiments show that cooperation emerges when such equilibria are likely to exist, but not when existence is unlikely.

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  • Paul Healy, "undated". "Group Reputations, Stereotypes, and Cooperation in a Repeated Labor Market," GSIA Working Papers 2006-E6, Carnegie Mellon University, Tepper School of Business.
    • Handle: RePEc:cmu:gsiawp:1140898278
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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • C72 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Game Theory and Bargaining Theory - - - Noncooperative Games
    • C73 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Game Theory and Bargaining Theory - - - Stochastic and Dynamic Games; Evolutionary Games
    • C78 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Game Theory and Bargaining Theory - - - Bargaining Theory; Matching Theory
    • J41 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Particular Labor Markets - - - Labor Contracts

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