Scandinavian Working Papers in Economics
Working Papers in Economics,
University of Gothenburg, Department of Economics
No 560: Session Size and its Effect on Identity Building: Evidence from a public goods experiment
Qian Weng ()
Additional contact information
Qian Weng: Department of Economics, School of Business, Economics and Law, Göteborg University, Postal: P.O.Box 640, SE 40530 GOTHENBURG, Sweden
Abstract: The effect of session size has largely been ignored in experimental studies, despite the possibility that it may play a role by changing people’s perception of the potential chance of encountering a certain type of people and by affecting the strength of the potential link between people. This paper investigates how the effect of an induced common identity on individual cooperative behavior differs depending on session size in a repeated public goods experiment with constant group size and partner matching. We find that induced identity significantly enhances cooperation only when the session size is small and only in the initial period. In all other periods, the effect of induced identity on cooperation is the same in small and large sessions, suggesting that session size is not a confounding factor of identity in repeated interaction settings.
Keywords: session size; identity building; public goods experiment; China
16 pages, March 8, 2013
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