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Observed punishment spillover effects: a laboratory investigation of behavior in a social dilemma
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 14 March 2025
Abstract
Punishment has been shown to be an effective reinforcement mechanism. Intentional or not, punishment will likely generate spillover effects that extend beyond one’s immediate decision environment, and these spillovers are not as well understood. We seek to understand these secondary spillover effects in a controlled lab setting using a standard social dilemma: the voluntary contributions mechanism. We find that spillovers occur when others observe punishment outside their own social dilemma. However, the direction of the spillover effect depends crucially on personal punishment history and whether one is personally exempt from punishment or not.
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- Information
- Experimental Economics , Volume 18 , Issue 1: Special Issue In Honor of Elinor “Lin” Ostrom , March 2015 , pp. 136 - 153
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- Copyright © 2014 Economic Science Association
Footnotes
Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:https://doi.org/10.1007/s10683-014-9399-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.