Seminars and Workshops
3:30pm - 5:00pm
Host: Ozlem Tonguc
"Polarization and Group Cooperation" (with Peter Hans Matthews)
Abstract: Does increased partisanship undermine the ability of politically heterogeneous groups tofunction and cooperate in apolitical settings? On the eve of the 2020 U.S. elections, weconducted an online experiment in which Democrats and Republicans played repeated publicgoods games, both with and without punishment. Absent punishment, mixed party groupsare less cooperative and efficient than homogeneous groups. However, polarized groups fareno worse than those in which political affiliations are unknown. We find no differences incooperation across groups that are able to punish free-riding behavior. Thus, knowing thatone is in a group with likeminded individuals can serve as a substitute for an enforcementmechanism, but polarized groups can, at some efficiency cost, achieve similar contributionswhen sanctions are possible.
"Polarization and Group Cooperation" (with Peter Hans Matthews)
Abstract: Does increased partisanship undermine the ability of politically heterogeneous groups tofunction and cooperate in apolitical settings? On the eve of the 2020 U.S. elections, weconducted an online experiment in which Democrats and Republicans played repeated publicgoods games, both with and without punishment. Absent punishment, mixed party groupsare less cooperative and efficient than homogeneous groups. However, polarized groups fareno worse than those in which political affiliations are unknown. We find no differences incooperation across groups that are able to punish free-riding behavior. Thus, knowing thatone is in a group with likeminded individuals can serve as a substitute for an enforcementmechanism, but polarized groups can, at some efficiency cost, achieve similar contributionswhen sanctions are possible.
