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Inter-Group Conflict and Intra-Group Punishment in an Experimental Contest Game

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dc.creator Abbink, Klaus
dc.creator Brandts, Jordi
dc.creator Herrmann, Benedikt
dc.creator Orzen, Henrik
dc.date 2008-03-03T17:58:06Z
dc.date 2008-03-03T17:58:06Z
dc.date 2008-01-15
dc.date.accessioned 2017-01-31T01:00:33Z
dc.date.available 2017-01-31T01:00:33Z
dc.identifier http://hdl.handle.net/10261/3139
dc.identifier.uri http://dspace.mediu.edu.my:8181/xmlui/handle/10261/3139
dc.description Trabajo publicado como artículo en American Economic Review 100(1): 420-447 (2010).-- http://dx.doi.org/10.1257/aer.100.1.420
dc.description We study how conflict in a contest game is influenced by rival parties being groups and by group members being able to punish each other. Our main motivation stems from the analysis of socio-political conflict. The relevant theoretical prediction in our setting is that conflict expenditures are independent of group size and independent of whether punishment is available or not. We find, first, that our results contradict the independence of group-size prediction: conflict expenditures of groups are substantially larger than those of individuals, and both are substantially above equilibrium. Towards the end of the experiment material losses in groups are 257% of the predicted level. There is, however, substantial heterogeneity in the investment behaviour of individual group members. Second, allowing group members to punish each other after individual contributions to the contest effort are revealed leads to even larger conflict expenditures. Now material losses are 869% of the equilibrium level and there is much less heterogeneity in individual group members' investments. These results contrast strongly with those from public goods experiments where punishment enhances efficiency and leads to higher material payoffs.
dc.description Financial support from the Leverhulme Trust under grant ECF/2003/0352 is gratefully acknowledged.
dc.description Peer reviewed
dc.format 203776 bytes
dc.format application/pdf
dc.language eng
dc.relation UFAE and IAE Working Papers
dc.relation 723.08
dc.rights openAccess
dc.subject Laboratory experiments
dc.subject Rent-seeking
dc.subject Conflict
dc.subject Group competitiveness
dc.title Inter-Group Conflict and Intra-Group Punishment in an Experimental Contest Game
dc.type Documento de trabajo


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