The Choice for a Punishment Institution in Cooperation Problems: Who is the First to Choose for a Punishment Institution?

Abstract

Punishment is an effective mean for establishing cooperation in cooperation problems. However, when actors get repeatedly the choice between participating within a Punishment Institution or a Punishment Free institution, they initially do prefer the latter one, but later change their preference from a Punishment Free Institution to a Punishment Institution. In this study we explore if three individual characteristics –risk-taking, cognitive empathy and affective empathy – influence the actor’s moment of choice for a PI. An actor with a higher degree on risk-taking and cognitive empathy might choose earlier for a PI, whereas for affective empathic actors it is expected they could both choose earlier or later for a Punishment Institution. Hypotheses are tested in an interactive experiment and linear regression is used for the analyses. The results do not confirm that risk-taking, cognitive empathy and affective empathy are predictors for the moment of choice for a PI. The study however could function as a steppingstone to further research that should be conducted to discover if there are other individual characteristics predicting the moment of choice for a PI.