Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/73488 
Year of Publication: 
2009
Series/Report no.: 
Working Papers in Economics and Statistics No. 2009-08
Publisher: 
University of Innsbruck, Department of Public Finance, Innsbruck
Abstract: 
This paper examines the influence of third-party observation and third-party reward on behavior in an experimental prisoner's dilemma (PD) game. Whereas the existing literature on third-party intervention as a means to sustain social norms has dealt almost exclusively with third-party punishment, we show that both third-party observation and third-party reward have positive effects on cooperation rates, compared to a treatment where no third party is involved. Third-party reward is more effective in increasing cooperation than third-party observation. However, rewards are given too late to prevent a steady downward trend of cooperation rates.
Subjects: 
Social norms
third-party reward
third-party observation
prisoner?s dilemma experiment
JEL: 
C72
C91
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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