Third-party punishment and counter-punishment in one-shot interactions

Balafoutas, Loukas; Grechenig, Kristoffel; Nikiforakis, Nikos

Third-party punishment and counter-punishment in one-shot interactions

2014

Balafoutas, Loukas | Grechenig, Kristoffel | Nikiforakis, Nikos

This paper presents experimental evidence from a simple three-person game showing that many individuals are willing to avenge third-party punishment in one-shot interactions. The threat of counter-punishment has a large negative effect on the willingness of third parties to punish selfish behavior. In spite of this, the extent of selfish behavior is identical to that in a treatment without counter-punishment opportunities. We discuss explanations for this puzzling finding.

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