Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-dsjbd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-28T18:14:02.494Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Retaliation and antisocial punishment are overlooked in many theoretical models as well as behavioral experiments

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 January 2012

Anna Dreber
Affiliation:
Department of Economics, Stockholm School of Economics, 113 83 Stockholm, Sweden. [email protected]://sites.google.com/site/annadreber/
David G. Rand
Affiliation:
Program for Evolutionary Dynamics, Harvard University and Department of Psychology, Harvard University,Cambridge, MA 02138. [email protected]://www.people.fas.harvard.edu/~drand/

Abstract

Guala argues that there is a mismatch between most laboratory experiments on costly punishment and behavior in the field. In the lab, experimental designs typically suppress retaliation. The same is true for most theoretical models of the co-evolution of costly punishment and cooperation, which a priori exclude the possibility of defectors punishing cooperators.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2012

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bowles, S. & Gintis, H. (2004) The evolution of strong reciprocity: Cooperation in heterogeneous populations. Theoretical Population Biology 65(1):1728. Available at: http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0040580903001163.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Boyd, R., Gintis, H., Bowles, S. & Richerson, P. (2003) The evolution of altruistic punishment. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 100(6):3531–35. Available at: http://www.pnas.org/content/100/6/3531.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cinyabuguma, M., Page, T. & Putterman, L. (2006) Can second-order punishment deter perverse punishment? Experimental Economics 9(3):265–79. Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10683-006-9127-z.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dal Bó, P. (2005) Cooperation under the shadow of the future: Experimental evidence from infinitely repeated games. American Economic Review 95:1591–604.Google Scholar
Dal Bó, P. & Fréchette, G. R. (2011) The evolution of cooperation in infinitely repeated games: Experimental evidence. American Economic Review 101(1):411–29.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Denant-Boemont, L., Masclet, D. & Noussair, C. (2007) Punishment, counterpunishment and sanction enforcement in a social dilemma experiment. Economic Theory 33(1):145–67. Available at: http://www.springerlink.com/index/J7356X79300876J7.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dreber, A., Rand, D. G., Fudenberg, D. & Nowak, M. A. (2008) Winners don't punish. Nature 452(7185):348–51. Available at: http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v452/n7185/abs/nature06723.html.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fudenberg, D., Rand, D. G. & Dreber, A. (in press) Slow to anger and fast to forgive: Cooperation in an uncertain world. American Economic Review.Google Scholar
Gächter, S. & Herrmann, B. (2009) Reciprocity, culture and human cooperation: Previous insights and a new cross-cultural experiment. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 364(1518):791806. Available at: http://rstb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/364/1518/791.abstract.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gächter, S. & Herrmann, B. (2011) The limits of self-governance when cooperators get punished: Experimental evidence from urban and rural Russia. European Economic Review 55(2):193210. Available at: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/B6V64-4YYGH46-1/2/773dfeb270ba5da7ea95bb3730ebf3ab.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gintis, H. (2000) Strong reciprocity and human sociality. Journal of Theoretical Biology 206(2):169–79. Available at: http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0022519300921118.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hauert, C., De Monte, S., Hofbauer, J. & Sigmund, K. (2002) Volunteering as a mechanism for cooperation in public goods games. Science 296:1129–32.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hauert, C., Traulsen, A., Brandt, H., Nowak, M. A. & Sigmund, K. (2007) Via freedom to coercion: The emergence of costly punishment. Science 316:1905–907.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Herrmann, B., Thöni, C. & Gächter, S. (2008) Antisocial punishment across societies. Science 319(5868):1362–67. Available at: http://www.sciencemag. org/cgi/content/abstract/sci;319/5868/1362CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Janssen, M. A. & Bushman, C. (2008) Evolution of cooperation and altruistic punishment when retaliation is possible. Journal of Theoretical Biology 254(3):541–45. Available at: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/B6WMD-4SVC5VF-1/2/9b458b4fcc9244d8f500d6fa35ef6300.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Milinski, M., Semmann, D., Bakker, T. C. M. & Krambeck, H.-J. (2001) Cooperation through indirect reciprocity: Image scoring or standing strategy? Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, Series B: Biological Sciences 268(1484):2495–501. Available at: http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/268/1484/2495.abstract.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Milinski, M., Semmann, D. & Krambeck, H. J. (2002) Reputation helps solve the “tragedy of the commons.” Nature 415(6870):424–26. Available at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&dopt=Citation&list_uids=11807552.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Nakamaru, M. & Iwasa, Y. (2005) The evolution of altruism by costly punishment in lattice-structured populations: Score-dependent viability versus score-dependent fertility. Evolution and Ecological Research 7(6):853–70.Google Scholar
Nakamaru, M. & Iwasa, Y. (2006) The coevolution of altruism and punishment: Role of the selfish punisher. Journal of Theoretical Biology 240(3):475–88. Available at: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/B6WMD-4HPD5F5-5/2/0002070a3941b038e2b266bf7a91a7ac.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Nikiforakis, N. (2008) Punishment and counter-punishment in public good games: Can we really govern ourselves? Journal of Public Economics 92:91112. Available at: http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0047272707000643.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rand, D. G., Armao, J. J. IV, Nakamaru, M. & Ohtsuki, H. (2010) Anti-social punishment can prevent the co-evolution of punishment and cooperation. Journal of Theoretical Biology 265(4):624–32. Available at: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/B6WMD-508K880-2/2/5977afc5e646e 284c72d99781f9d19e3.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rand, D. G., Dreber, A., Ellingsen, T., Fudenberg, D. & Nowak, M. A. (2009a) Positive interactions promote public cooperation. Science 325(5945):1272–75. Available at: http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/325/5945/1272.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rand, D. G. & Nowak, M. A. (2011) The evolution of anti-social punishment in optional public goods games. Nature Communications 2:434.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rand, D. G., Ohtsuki, H. & Nowak, M. A. (2009b) Direct reciprocity with costly punishment: Generous tit-for-tat prevails Journal of Theoretical Biology 256(1):4557.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rockenbach, B. & Milinski, M. (2006) The efficient interaction of indirect reciprocity and costly punishment. Nature 444(7120):718–23. Available at: http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nature05229.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sigmund, K., De Silva, H., Traulsen, A. & Hauert, C. (2010) Social learning promotes institutions for governing the commons. Nature 466(7308):861–63. Available at: (1) http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nature09203; (2) http://www.nature. com/nature/journal/v466/n7308/abs/nature09203.html#supplementary-information.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Traulsen, A., Hauert, C., De Silva, H., Nowak, M. A. & Sigmund, K. (2009) Exploration dynamics in evolutionary games. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 106(3):709–12. Available at: http://www.pnas.org/content/106/3/709.abstract.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Vyrastekova, J. & van Soest, D. (2008) On the (in)effectiveness of rewards in sustaining cooperation. Experimental Economics 11(1):5365. Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10683-006-9153-x.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wang, J., Wu, B., Ho, W. C., D. & Wang, L. (2011) Evolution of cooperation in multilevel public goods games with community structures. European Physical Letters 93(5):58001. Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1209/0295-5075/93/58001.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wedekind, C. & Milinski, M. (2000) Cooperation through image scoring in humans. Science 288(5467):850–52. Available at: http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/288/5467/850.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wu, J.-J., Zhang, B.-Y., Zhou, Z.-X., He, Q.-Q., Zheng, X.-D., Cressman, R. & Tao, Y. (2009) Costly punishment does not always increase cooperation. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 106(41):17448–451. Available at: http://www.pnas.org/content/106/41/17448.abstract.CrossRefGoogle Scholar