Not logged in.

Contribution Details

Type Working Paper
Scope Discipline-based scholarship
Title Institution Formation in Public Goods Games
Organization Unit
Authors
  • Michael Kosfeld
  • Akira Okada
  • Arno Riedl
Language
  • English
Institution University of Zurich
Series Name Working paper series / Institute for Empirical Research in Economics
Number No. 299
ISSN 1424-0459
Date 2006
Abstract Text Centralized sanctioning institutions are of utmost importance for overcomingnfree-riding tendencies and enforcing outcomes that maximize group welfare in socialndilemma situations. However, little is known about how such institutions come intonexistence. In this paper we investigate, both theoretically and experimentally, thenendogenous formation of institutions in a public goods game. Our theoretical analysisnshows that players may form sanctioning institutions in equilibrium, includingnthose where institutions govern only a subset of players. The experiment confirmsnthat institutions are formed frequently as well as that institution formation has anpositive impact on cooperation rates and group welfare. However, the data clearlynreveal that players are unwilling to implement institutions in which some playersnhave the opportunity to free ride. In sum, our results show that individuals arenwilling and able to create sanctioning institutions, but that the institution formationnprocess is guided by behavioral principles not taken into account by standard theory.
Official URL http://www.econ.uzh.ch/wp.html
PDF File Download from ZORA
Export BibTeX
EP3 XML (ZORA)