The Spite Dilemma Experiment in Korea

Youngsub Chun ; Jeongbin Kim ; Tatsuyoshi Saijo

Corresponding Author, Professor, Department of Economics, Seoul National University, Seoul 151-746, Korea, Tel: +82-2-880-6382, Fax: 82-2-886-4231 ychun@snu.ac.kr
Graduate Student, Department of Economics, Seoul National University, Seoul 151-746, Korea, Tel: +82-2-880-6359 jbdavid@snu.ac.kr
Professor, Institute of Social and Economic Research, Osaka University, Japan, and CASSEL, UCLA, USA, Tel: +81-6-6879-8582 saijo@iser.osaka-u.ac.jp

JEL Classification: C91, H41, D70

Abstract

This paper investigates a choice behavior of Korean subjects for the provision of public goods using the voluntary contribution mechanism in Saijo and Nakamura (1995). Together with the data from Saijo and Nakamura (1995) and Saijo et al. (2007), we conclude that whereas Japanese subjects are more likely to behave spitefully, Korean and Chinese subjects are more likely to act cooperatively. We also analyze the behavior of Korean subjects after being categorized by department. Subjects from the economics department follow a pattern of a contribution not much different from the theoretical expectation, and subjects from the college of social sciences show a similar pattern. The subjects who act spitefully are from the department of agricultural economics.

Keywords:

Voluntary contribution mechanism, Spite dilemma, China, Japan, Korea

Acknowledgments

Chun's work was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea Grant funded by the Korean Government (KRF-2009-342-B00011). Kim's work was supported by the Second Stage of the Brain Korea 21 Department of Economics, Seoul National University Project in 2009.

References

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