The effect of kinship on intergenerational cooperation : a lab experiment with three generations

José Alberto Molina (University of Zaragoza and IZA), Alfredo Ferrer (University of Zaragoza), J. Ignacio Giménez-Nadal (University of Zaragoza), Carlos Gracia-Lazaro (University of Zaragoza), Yamir Moreno (University of Zaragoza and Institute for Scientific Interchange), Angel Sanchez (University of Zaragoza and Universidad Carlos III de Madrid)

In this paper, we analyze how kinship among family members affects intergenerational cooperation in a public good game. 165 individuals from 55 families, comprising three generations (youths, parents, and grandparents), play a public good game in three different treatments: one in which three members of the same family play each other (family), a second with the youth and two non-family members but preserving the previous generational structure (intergenerational), and a third in which three randomly-selected players play each other (random). We find that players contribute more to the public good when they play with other family members, than when they play with non-family members. This effect is present in all three generations, and is independent of the gender of the players. We also observe the significant result that older generations contribute more to the public good, relative to their children.

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Year of publication:	March 2016
Authors:	Molina, José Alberto ; Ferrer, Alfredo ; Gimenez-Nadal, José Ignacio ; Gracia-Lazaro, Carlos ; Moreno, Yamir ; Vicente, Ángeles
Publisher:	Bonn, Germany : IZA
Subject:	intergenerational cooperation \| evolutionary game theory \| public goods game \| kinship \| social networks \| Öffentliche Güter \| Public goods \| Generationengerechtigkeit \| Intergenerational equity \| Experiment \| Soziales Netzwerk \| Social network \| Kooperation \| Cooperation \| Spieltheorie \| Game theory \| Intergenerationale Übertragung \| Intergenerational transfer \| Familie \| Family \| Evolutionäre Spieltheorie \| Evolutionary game theory \| Gefangenendilemma \| Prisoner's dilemma \| Kooperatives Spiel \| Cooperative game