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The Enemy of My Enemy: How Competition Mitigates Social Dilemmas

Author

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  • Albertazzi, Andrea

    (IMT School for Advanced Studies Lucca)

  • Stringhi, Alessandro
  • Gil-Gallen, Sara

Abstract

This paper studies how competition between groups affects cooperation. In the control condition, pairs of subjects play an indefinitely repeated Prisoner’s Dilemma game without external competition. In the treatment, two pairs compete against each other. No monetary rewards are tied to winning, isolating the bare impact of competition. In the treatment, cooperation increases by 16 percentage points. Strategies estimation shows a shift from selfish strategies (Always Defect) to cooperative ones (Grim Trigger). A theoretical model provides a rationale for the experimental results.

Suggested Citation

  • Albertazzi, Andrea & Stringhi, Alessandro & Gil-Gallen, Sara, 2025. "The Enemy of My Enemy: How Competition Mitigates Social Dilemmas," SocArXiv xf43q, Center for Open Science.
    • Handle: RePEc:osf:socarx:xf43q
    DOI: 10.31219/osf.io/xf43q
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    References listed on IDEAS

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