Cooperation in small groups: the effect of group size
We study the effect of group size on cooperation in voluntary contribution mechanism games. As in previous experiments, we study four- and eight-person groups in high and low marginal per capita return (MPCR) conditions. We find a positive effect of group size in the low MPCR condition, as in previo...
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| Format: | Article |
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Springer
2015
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| Online Access: | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/45897/ |
| _version_ | 1848797216367443968 |
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| author | Nosenzo, Daniele Quercia, Simone Sefton, Martin |
| author_facet | Nosenzo, Daniele Quercia, Simone Sefton, Martin |
| author_sort | Nosenzo, Daniele |
| building | Nottingham Research Data Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | We study the effect of group size on cooperation in voluntary contribution mechanism games. As in previous experiments, we study four- and eight-person groups in high and low marginal per capita return (MPCR) conditions. We find a positive effect of group size in the low MPCR condition, as in previous experiments. However, in the high MPCR condition we observe a negative group size effect. We extend the design to investigate two- and three-person groups in the high MPCR condition, and find that cooperation is highest of all in two-person groups. The findings in the high MPCR condition are consistent with those from n-person prisoner’s dilemma and oligopoly experiments that suggest it is more difficult to sustain cooperation in larger groups. The findings from the low MPCR condition suggest that this effect can be overridden. In particular, when cooperation is low other factors, such as considerations of the social benefits of contributing (which increase with group size), may dominate any negative group size effect. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T20:00:21Z |
| format | Article |
| id | nottingham-45897 |
| institution | University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T20:00:21Z |
| publishDate | 2015 |
| publisher | Springer |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | nottingham-458972020-05-04T20:09:45Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/45897/ Cooperation in small groups: the effect of group size Nosenzo, Daniele Quercia, Simone Sefton, Martin We study the effect of group size on cooperation in voluntary contribution mechanism games. As in previous experiments, we study four- and eight-person groups in high and low marginal per capita return (MPCR) conditions. We find a positive effect of group size in the low MPCR condition, as in previous experiments. However, in the high MPCR condition we observe a negative group size effect. We extend the design to investigate two- and three-person groups in the high MPCR condition, and find that cooperation is highest of all in two-person groups. The findings in the high MPCR condition are consistent with those from n-person prisoner’s dilemma and oligopoly experiments that suggest it is more difficult to sustain cooperation in larger groups. The findings from the low MPCR condition suggest that this effect can be overridden. In particular, when cooperation is low other factors, such as considerations of the social benefits of contributing (which increase with group size), may dominate any negative group size effect. Springer 2015-03 Article PeerReviewed Nosenzo, Daniele, Quercia, Simone and Sefton, Martin (2015) Cooperation in small groups: the effect of group size. Experimental Economics, 18 (1). pp. 4-14. ISSN 1573-6938 Voluntary contribution mechanism Cooperation Group size https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10683-013-9382-8 doi:10.1007/s10683-013-9382-8 doi:10.1007/s10683-013-9382-8 |
| spellingShingle | Voluntary contribution mechanism Cooperation Group size Nosenzo, Daniele Quercia, Simone Sefton, Martin Cooperation in small groups: the effect of group size |
| title | Cooperation in small groups: the effect of group size |
| title_full | Cooperation in small groups: the effect of group size |
| title_fullStr | Cooperation in small groups: the effect of group size |
| title_full_unstemmed | Cooperation in small groups: the effect of group size |
| title_short | Cooperation in small groups: the effect of group size |
| title_sort | cooperation in small groups: the effect of group size |
| topic | Voluntary contribution mechanism Cooperation Group size |
| url | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/45897/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/45897/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/45897/ |