At the root of the North-South cooperation gap in Italy: Preferences or beliefs?

Maria Bigoni, Stefania Bortolotti, Marco Casari and D. Gambetta

Working Papers from Dipartimento Scienze Economiche, Universita' di Bologna

Abstract: The marked difference in the development of the North and the South of Italy represents a prototypical case of seemingly intractable within-country disparities. Recent research found that a plausible determinant of this socio-economic gap would be a difference in the ability to cooperate. Through a laboratory experiment we investigate whence this difference derives, whether from different preferences or from different beliefs. Our findings indicate that Northerners and Southerners share the same individual pro-social preferences, and that the cooperation gap lies rather in the pessimistic beliefs that Southerners have about their cooperativeness. Southerners, furthermore, manifest a stronger aversion to social risk, as compared to the risk of nature. A policy implication is that an intervention or an event that reduced pessimistic beliefs would directly boost cooperation levels.

JEL-codes: C72 C93 Z13 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017-01
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-exp and nep-soc
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (15)

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Related works:
Journal Article: At the Root of the North–South Cooperation Gap in Italy: Preferences or Beliefs? (2019)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:bol:bodewp:wp1092

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