Reciprocity or Community? Different Cultural Pathways to Cooperation and Welfare
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Affiliation
Center for the Philosophy of Freedom, University of ArizonaIssue Date
2023-04-03Keywords
C91C92
cooperation
experiment
framing
JEL codes
motivation
national culture
voluntary contribution mechanism
Z10
Z18
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SAGE Publications Inc.Citation
Gunnthorsdottir, A., Thorsteinsson, P., & Olafsson, S. P. (2023). Reciprocity or Community? Different Cultural Pathways to Cooperation and Welfare. Cross-Cultural Research, 57(4), 391-428. https://doi.org/10.1177/10693971231166165Journal
Cross-Cultural ResearchRights
© 2023 SAGE Publications. Creative Commons License (CC BY-NC 4.0)Collection Information
This item from the UA Faculty Publications collection is made available by the University of Arizona with support from the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact us at repository@u.library.arizona.edu.Abstract
We compare efficiency-enhancing cooperation and its underlying motives in Iceland and the US. The two countries are distinct along all measures of national culture known to us. They are however both developed democracies with similar GDP/capita (PPP adjusted). These similarities make it possible to hold constant aspects of culture related to wealth and institutions. In an experimental Voluntary Contribution Mechanism (VCM), we prime the participants with different social foci, emphasizing either their directly cooperating team or their wider social unit. With a team focus, cooperation levels do not differ between the two cultures, but this superficial similarity masks deep-seated differences: When the focus is on the wider social unit cooperation increases in Iceland and declines in the US. Both when the contribution levels are the same and when they differ, members of the two cultures differ in their motives to cooperate: Icelanders tend to cooperate unconditionally, and US subjects conditionally with a strong emphasis on reciprocity. Our findings indicate that different cultures can achieve similar economic and societal performance through different cultural norms and suggest that cooperation should be encouraged through culturally tailored persuasion tactics. © 2023 SAGE Publications.Note
Open access articleISSN
1069-3971Version
Final Published Versionae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.1177/10693971231166165
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Except where otherwise noted, this item's license is described as © 2023 SAGE Publications. Creative Commons License (CC BY-NC 4.0)

