Speaker: Conny Wollbrant, University of Gothenburg

Title: Strong, bold and kind: Self-control and cooperation in social dilemmas 

Authors: Martin G. Kocher, Peter Martinsson, Kristian Ove Myrseth and Conny Wollbrant 

Abstract:
We develop a model relating self-control, risk preferences and conflict identification to cooperation patterns in social dilemmas. We subject our model to data from an experimental public goods game and a risk experiment, and we measure conflict identification and self-control. As predicted, we find a robust association between self-control and higher levels of cooperation, and the association is weaker for more risk-averse individuals. Free riders differ from other contributor types only in their tendency not to have identified a self-control conflict in the first place. Our model accounts for the data at least as well as do other models.

Organizer: Marianne Simonsen