The effect of voluntary participation on cooperation

Nosenzo, Daniele; Tufano, Fabio

Abstract

We study the effects of voluntary participation on cooperation in collective action problems. Voluntary participation may foster cooperation through a mechanism of assortative selection of interaction partners based on false consensus bias, or through a mechanism whereby the decision to not participate can be used as a threat against free-riders. We examine the effectiveness of these mechanisms in a one-shot public goods experiment. Voluntary participation has a positive effect on provision only through the threat of non-participation. Assortative selection of interaction partners seems to play a minor role in our setting, whereas the threat of non-participation is a powerful force to discipline free-riding.

Citation

Nosenzo, D., & Tufano, F. (2017). The effect of voluntary participation on cooperation. Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, 142, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jebo.2017.07.009

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jul 8, 2017
• Online Publication Date: Jul 13, 2017
• Publication Date: Oct 1, 2017
• Deposit Date: Aug 22, 2017
• Publicly Available Date: Jan 14, 2019
• Journal: Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization
• Electronic ISSN: 0167-2681
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 142
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jebo.2017.07.009
• Keywords: collective action; cooperation; voluntary participation; experiment
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/966096
• Publisher URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167268117301877
• Contract Date: Aug 22, 2017