 Effect of inequality on cooperation: Heterogeneity and hegemony in public goods dilemmaJane M.Y. Fung and Wing-tung Au Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 2014, vol. 123, issue 1, 9-22 Abstract: We conducted two studies to explain inconsistent findings on the effect of resource inequality based on two properties of heterogeneity: (a) level of inequality and (b) asymmetry of resource distribution. We confirmed that symmetrically heterogeneous groups cooperated less than homogeneous groups did. We also found that larger resource inequality led to less cooperation. More importantly, the effect of inequality was different among groups with different distributions of resources – cooperation declined in groups with a symmetrical distribution of resources but did not decline in groups with a hegemonic distribution. Hegemonic distribution also affected psychological states as resource inequality changed. High endowment members reported higher self-efficacy when distribution was hegemonic than symmetric. However, they also reported more fear of being a sucker in hegemonic groups. Keywords: Public good; Heterogeneity; Hegemony; Inequality; Self-efficacy (search for similar items in EconPapers) Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jobhdp:v:123:y:2014:i:1:p:9-22 DOI: 10.1016/j.obhdp.2013.10.010 Access Statistics for this article Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes is currently edited by John M. Schaubroeck More articles in Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes from Elsevier |
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