Varying experimental instructions to improve comprehension: punishment in public goods games

Abhijit Ramalingam; Antonio J. Morales; James M. Walker

doi:10.1016/j.socec.2018.01.008

Varying experimental instructions to improve comprehension: punishment in public goods games

Abhijit Ramalingam, Antonio J. Morales, James M. Walker

School of Economics

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

10 Citations (Scopus)

13 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

We provide evidence that more explicit instructions can affect behaviour in a public goods game with punishment. Instructions that highlight the positive externality associated with public goods contributions and provide more examples improve subjects’ comprehension levels, as measured by shorter decision times in the experiment. They also lead to higher contribution levels in games with punishment opportunities, linked to better targeting of punishment.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	66-73
Number of pages	8
Journal	Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics
Volume	73
Early online date	7 Feb 2018
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socec.2018.01.008
Publication status	Published - Apr 2018

Keywords

public goods
experiment
instructions
contributions
punishment
methodology

Access to Document

10.1016/j.socec.2018.01.008

Accepted manuscriptAccepted author manuscript, 1.79 MBLicence: CC BY-NC-ND

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214804318300557

Cite this

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title = "Varying experimental instructions to improve comprehension: punishment in public goods games",

abstract = "We provide evidence that more explicit instructions can affect behaviour in a public goods game with punishment. Instructions that highlight the positive externality associated with public goods contributions and provide more examples improve subjects{\textquoteright} comprehension levels, as measured by shorter decision times in the experiment. They also lead to higher contribution levels in games with punishment opportunities, linked to better targeting of punishment.",

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AB - We provide evidence that more explicit instructions can affect behaviour in a public goods game with punishment. Instructions that highlight the positive externality associated with public goods contributions and provide more examples improve subjects’ comprehension levels, as measured by shorter decision times in the experiment. They also lead to higher contribution levels in games with punishment opportunities, linked to better targeting of punishment.

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KW - experiment

KW - instructions

KW - contributions

KW - punishment

KW - methodology

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