Learning to cooperate in the shadow of the law - HAL-SHS - Sciences de l'Homme et de la Société
Article Dans Une Revue Journal of the Economic Science Association Année : 2024

Learning to cooperate in the shadow of the law

Résumé

Formal enforcement punishing defectors can sustain cooperation by changing incentives. In this paper we introduce a second effect of enforcement: it can also affect the capacity to learn about the group's cooperativeness. Indeed, in contexts with strong enforcement, it is difficult to tell apart those who cooperate because of the threat of fines from those who are intrinsically cooperative types. Enforcement can then potentially have a negative dynamic impact on cooperation when it prevents learning. We provide theoretical and experimental evidence in support of this mechanism. Using a lab experiment with independent interactions and random rematching, we observe that, in early interactions, having faced an environment with fines in the past decreases current cooperation. We further show that this results from the interaction between enforcement and learning: the effect of having met cooperative partners has a stronger effect on current cooperation when this happened in an environment with no enforcement.
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Dates et versions

halshs-04800439 , version 1 (24-11-2024)

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Roberto Galbiati, Emeric Henry, Nicolas Jacquemet. Learning to cooperate in the shadow of the law. Journal of the Economic Science Association, 2024, 10 (2), pp.165-198. ⟨10.1007/s40881-023-00159-x⟩. ⟨halshs-04800439⟩
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