Till Weber - Peer and centralised punishment: a comparative evaluation of sanctioning institutions

Date(s)
Thursday 11th February 2016 (13:00-14:00)
Description

The Brown Bag Seminar this week will be given by Till Weber.

The seminar will take place from 1pm to 2pm in A40 Sir Clive Granger (lunch provided). 

Title: Peer and centralised punishment: a comparative evaluation of sanctioning institutions

Abstract: The vast majority of laboratory experiments on norm enforcement adopt costly peer punishment. Yet, in reality most of the punishment is conducted by centralised sanctioning institutions. We conduct repeated public goods experiments with peer punishment, centralised punishment and a combination of both, in order to compare the properties of the different sanctioning mechanisms. Additionally, we explore the link between individual cooperativeness and the use of punishment. We find that our centralised punishment mechanism requires a higher expenditure on punishment and is therefore less efficient than peer punishment. Under centralised punishment, voluntary contributions are being crowded out over time. Additionally, the centralised sanctioning mechanism relies on cooperative individuals who bear the cost of punishment.

Centre for Decision Research and Experimental Economics

Sir Clive Granger Building
University of Nottingham
University Park
Nottingham, NG7 2RD

telephone: +44 (0)115 951 5458
Enquiries: jose.guinotsaporta@nottingham.ac.uk
Experiments: cedex@nottingham.ac.uk