When punishment strikes late: the effect of a delay in punishment and punishment feedback on cooperation and efficiency

Laboratory experiments established that peer punishment is a powerful cooperation-enhancing institution. However, this evidence centers on punishment that affects punishees immediately, whereas in many out-of-lab instances, punishment only takes effect some time after it has been inflicted. Moreover...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Waichman, Israel (Author) , Stenzel, Lukas (Author)
Format: Article (Journal)
Language:English
Published: 2019
In: Journal of neuroscience, psychology, and economics
Year: 2019, Volume: 12, Issue: 1, Pages: 1-17
ISSN:2151-318X
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Author Notes:Israel Waichman, Lukas Stenzel
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Summary:Laboratory experiments established that peer punishment is a powerful cooperation-enhancing institution. However, this evidence centers on punishment that affects punishees immediately, whereas in many out-of-lab instances, punishment only takes effect some time after it has been inflicted. Moreover, studying the consequences of a delay in the effect of punishment could shed light on the channels through which punishment facilitates cooperation. A delay may (a) prevent punishees from immediately responding to the punishment and (b) dissolve the perceived link between received punishment and past behavior. In the present study, we model a situation where punishment affects the punishee 5 periods after it has been inflicted. We find that even under a delay in the effect and feedback of punishment, peer punishment is very effective in facilitating cooperation. However, peer punishment is only efficient when a salient link between received punishment and past contributions is established.
Item Description:Gesehen am 03.06.2019
Physical Description:Online Resource
ISSN:2151-318X