Comparing the Effectiveness of Regulation and Pro-Social Emotions to Enhance Cooperation: Experimental Evidence from Fishing Communities in Colombia

Maria Claudia Lopez (), James J. Murphy (), John Michael Spraggon () and John Kevin Stranlund
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Maria Claudia Lopez: School of Environmental and Rural Studies, Bogota Colombia

No 2009-5, Working Papers from University of Massachusetts Amherst, Department of Resource Economics

Abstract: This paper presents the results from a series of framed field experiments conducted in fishing communities off the Caribbean coast of Colombia. The goal is to investigate the relative effectiveness of exogenous regulatory pressure and pro-social emotions in promoting cooperative behavior in a public goods context. The random public revelation of an individual’s contribution and its consequences for the rest of the group leads to significantly higher public good contributions and social welfare than regulatory pressure, even under regulations that are designed to motivate fully efficient contributions.

Keywords: public goods; field experiments; pro-social emotions; social dilemma; regulation; enforcement. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C93 H41 Q20 Q28 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2009-08
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