Are poor people conditionally cooperative? Contrasting evidence from a field-adapted contributions game

We study conditional cooperation using a field-adapted conditional contributions game in rural Mozambique, eliciting community members’ willingness to contribute to a new public program conditional on how many others contribute. While past studies suggest most people are conditional cooperators (con...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Allen IV, James, Karachiwalla, Naureen, Rakshit, Deboleena
Formato: Artículo preliminar
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: International Food Policy Research Institute 2025
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/176850
Descripción
Sumario:We study conditional cooperation using a field-adapted conditional contributions game in rural Mozambique, eliciting community members’ willingness to contribute to a new public program conditional on how many others contribute. While past studies suggest most people are conditional cooperators (contributing more as others do), most of our sample (57%) are undefined by standard classifications. Instead, our sample's most common types are largely absent from the literature: counter conditional cooperators (contributing less as others do) and v-shaped cooperators, both for monetary donations (30% and 19%) and volunteering (35% and 12%). Our findings motivate future research in both non-laboratory and low-income settings.