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Resource Scarcity, Spite and Cooperation

Author

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  • Prediger, Sebastian
  • Vollan, Björn
  • Herrmann, Benedikt
Abstract
Using an experimental approach, this paper examines how scarcity of natural resources affects people's readiness to cooperate or engage in antisocial behavior. The experiments were carried out with pastoralists from southern Namibia, whose livelihoods greatly depend on grazing availability on collectively used rangelands. We split the study region into two areas according to exogenous differences in biomass production (a high-yield and a low-yield area) and conducted a one-shot public goods experiment and a joy-of-destruction experiment with pastoralists from both areas. Results from the joy-of-destruction experiment reveal that a substantial proportion of people are willing to reduce another subject's income, although this comes at a personal cost. We show that this kind of spiteful behavior occurs twice as often in the area where resources are scarcer and hence competitive pressure is higher. By contrast, levels of cooperation are very similar across areas. This indicates that scarcity does not hamper cooperation, at least as long as a subsurvival level has not been exceeded. Our data further reveal a coexistence of prosocial and antisocial behavior within individuals, suggesting that people's motivations depend on the experimental environment they are acting in. One possible explanation is that subjects are ready to cooperate when substantial net gains can be realized, but turn into spiteful money burners when there is no scope for efficiency improvements and the risk of falling behind is particularly salient.

Suggested Citation

  • Prediger, Sebastian & Vollan, Björn & Herrmann, Benedikt, 2013. "Resource Scarcity, Spite and Cooperation," GIGA Working Papers 227, GIGA German Institute of Global and Area Studies.
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:gigawp:227
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Prediger, Sebastian & Vollan, Björn & Herrmann, Benedikt, 2013. "Resource Scarcity, Spite and Cooperation," GIGA Working Papers 227, GIGA German Institute of Global and Area Studies.
    2. Lilavati Krishnan, 2022. "The Scarcity–Prosociality Link: Ambiguous, Yet Thought-provoking," Psychology and Developing Societies, , vol. 34(1), pages 79-103, March.
    3. Prediger, Sebastian & Vollan, Björn & Herrmann, Benedikt, 2014. "Resource scarcity and antisocial behavior," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 1-9.
    4. Boonmanunt, Suparee & Meier, Stephan, 2023. "The effect of financial constraints on in-group bias: Evidence from rice farmers in Thailand," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 207(C), pages 96-109.
    5. Boonmanunt, Suparee & Kajackaite, Agne & Meier, Stephan, 2020. "Does poverty negate the impact of social norms on cheating?," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 124, pages 569-578.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    competition; natural resource scarcity; antisocial behavior; cooperation; spite; Namibia; lab-in-the-field experiment;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C71 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Game Theory and Bargaining Theory - - - Cooperative Games
    • C72 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Game Theory and Bargaining Theory - - - Noncooperative Games
    • C91 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Laboratory, Individual Behavior
    • D03 - Microeconomics - - General - - - Behavioral Microeconomics: Underlying Principles
    • H41 - Public Economics - - Publicly Provided Goods - - - Public Goods
    • Q24 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Renewable Resources and Conservation - - - Land

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