The Spite Dilemma Revisited: Comparison between Chinese and Japanese

Tatsuyoshi Saijo (), Junyi Shen, Xiangdong Qin and Kenju Akai
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Xiangdong Qin: Shanghai Jiao Tong University
Kenju Akai: Osaka University

No 07E004, OSIPP Discussion Paper from Osaka School of International Public Policy, Osaka University

Abstract: This paper studies Chinese choice behavior in the provision of public goods via the voluntary contribution mechanism. The laboratory experiment conducted in China adopts the same design as the one used in Saijo and Nakamura (1995), i.e. either cooperating (full contribution) or free riding (no contribution) is predicted as the unique Nash equilibrium with a high (larger than one) or low (smaller than one) marginal return of contribution. Comparing the results of Chinese subjects with their Japanese counterparts, we find significant differences between these two countries in terms of their choice behavior, despite the similarities in their cultures and the proximity in geographical positions. Japanese subjects are more likely to act spitefully, and, in contrast, Chinese subjects are more likely to perform cooperatively. In addition, concerning the deviations from the Nash equilibria with different marginal returns, the statistical results indicate that Chinese subjects behave more consistent with the theoretical prediction in the high marginal return case, while Japanese choice behavior seems less different from the theoretical expectation in the low marginal return case.

Keywords: Voluntary contribution mechanism; Spite dilemma; Chinese; Japanese (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C91 D71 H41 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 32 pages
Date: 2007-04
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cbe, nep-cna and nep-exp
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