Center for Behavioral Decision Research

CBDR : Seminar Series : Seminar by Erte Xiao

Emotion Expression, Punishment and Cooperation in Economic Exchange

	presented by Erte Xiao (University of Pennsylvania)


	Tuesday, January 15	link to paper
	Noon-1:30
	Porter 223D	link to Speaker's Site

	Abstract:

	Much theoretical and empirical research on punishment focuses on its role in reducing expected returns to prohibited behavior. I complement this research by reporting data from studies highlighting the importance of the expressive role of punishment. I study two types of environments: one where punishment is decided by one's peers, and a second where punishment is decided by an impersonal rule. The first study connects peer-to-peer punishment to the expression of emotions, and argues that this link provides a partial explanation for the puzzle of costly punishment. A second study extends this finding by demonstrating that threats of informal punishment with ex post emotion expression can reduce selfishness even in one-shot interactions. A third study investigates social norm expression via an impersonal punishment mechanism. In contrast to many previous studies demonstrating that "weak" incentives can have detrimental effects on norm obedience, my data suggest publicly implemented weak incentives enhance norm salience and thus promote norm compliance. This result sheds light on why weak incentives are both widely used and effective at promoting cooperation in naturally occurring environments.

	Host at CMU: Weber