APEC Seminars Presents Dr. Maik Kecinski.

Title: Reciprocity in Public Goods Games: Some Experimental Evidence
 

Abstract 

This paper tests a recently developed theoretical framework concerning the impacts of indirect upstream reciprocity. Specifically, we focus on experimentally testing theoretical predictions for strong and weak upstream reciprocity. The importance of other-regarding behavior and social preferences for voluntary contributions to public goods has received considerable attention, however, neither strong nor weak upstream reciprocity preferences have been tested in a public good setting. Data collection from approximately 500 participants was completed earlier in 2021 and preliminary results suggest that both strong and weak indirect upstream reciprocity preferences significantly increase voluntary contributions, suggesting that (1) voluntary contributions made by some impact the voluntary contributions of others and that (2) it matters whether the contributions of some are received by others as indirect monetary benefits or as indirect information benefits.