Cohesion in the Public Goods Game: The effect of sanctioning and the sanctioning system on cohesion

Abstract

The aim of this study is to find out what the effects of sanctioning and the sanctioning system in the Public Goods Game are on a player´s feeling of cohesion. By means of experimental data, we compare the effects of receiving punishments and rewards, and we examine whether there is a difference between playing under the condition in which a sanction is implemented by an individual, the majority, or the unanimous decision of the group. A player in the latter two conditions might distribute a sanction that will not be implemented. Our results show that the more punishments a player receives, the stronger this player’s feeling of cohesion, while receiving sanctions in general has no effect. Furthermore, the feeling of cohesion is not influenced by playing in a certain decision rule condition, nor by the number of non-implemented sanctions. Lastly, we find that a player’s final profit has a positive effect on the feeling of cohesion.