Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/93980 
Year of Publication: 
2007
Series/Report no.: 
SFB/TR 15 Discussion Paper No. 193
Publisher: 
Sonderforschungsbereich/Transregio 15 - Governance and the Efficiency of Economic Systems (GESY), München
Abstract: 
This paper provides an argument for the advantage of a preference for identity-consistent behaviour from an evolutionary point of view. Within a stylised model of social interaction, we show that the development of cooperative social norms is greatly facilitated if the agents of the society possess a preference for identity consistent behaviour. As cooperative norms have a positive impact on aggregate outcomes, we conclude that such preferences are evolutionarily advantageous. Furthermore, we discuss how such a preference can be integrated in the modelling of utility in order to account for the distinctive cooperative trait in human behaviour and show how this squares with the evidence.
Subjects: 
cognitive dissonance
fairness
identity
reciprocity
social Norms
social preferences
utility
JEL: 
A13
C70
C90
D01
Z13
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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