The Effect of Motivations on Social Indirect Reciprocity: an Experimental Analysis

Luca Stanca (), Luigino Bruni () and Marco Mantovani

No 169, Working Papers from University of Milano-Bicocca, Department of Economics

Abstract: This paper investigates the effects of motivations on the perceived kindness of an action within the context of strong social indirect reci- procity. We test experimentally the hypothesis that, for a given dis- tributional outcome, an action is perceived by a third party to be less kind if it can be strategically motivated. The results do not support this hypothesis: social indirect reciprocity is indeed found to be signif- icantly stronger when strategic motivations cannot be ruled out. We interpret these findings as an indication of the role played by team reasoning in explaining reciprocal behavior.

Keywords: Indirect Reciprocity; Motivations; Social Preferences; Laboratory Experiments (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C78 C91 D63 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 26 pages
Date: 2009-08, Revised 2009-08
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cbe, nep-evo, nep-exp, nep-hap, nep-ltv and nep-soc
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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http://repec.dems.unimib.it/repec/pdf/mibwpaper169.pdf First version, 2009 (application/pdf)

Related works:
Journal Article: The effect of motivations on social indirect reciprocity: an experimental analysis (2011)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:mib:wpaper:169

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