Cooperation in a fragmented society: experimental evidence on Syrian refugees and natives in Lebanon
Cooperation in a fragmented society: experimental evidence on Syrian refugees and natives in Lebanon
Lebanon is the country with the highest density of refugees in the world, raising the question of whether the host and refugee populations can cooperate harmoniously. We conduct a lab-in-the-field experiment in Lebanon studying intra- and inter-group behavior of Syrian refugees and Lebanese nationals in a repeated public goods game without and with punishment. We randomly assign participants to Lebanese-only, Syrian-only, or mixed sessions. We find that randomly formed pairs in homogeneous sessions, on average, contribute and punish significantly more than those in mixed sessions, suggesting in-group cooperation is stronger. These patterns are driven by Lebanese participants. Further analysis indicates that behavior in mixed groups is more strongly conditioned on expectations about the partner's cooperation than in homogeneous groups.
Cooperation, Public goods game, Punishment, Refugees
176-191
Drouvelis, Michalis
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Malaeb, Bilal
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Vlassopoulos, Michael
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Wahba, Jackline
03ae9304-c329-40c6-9bfc-d91cfa9e7164
July 2021
Drouvelis, Michalis
e7d4f210-cff7-4e8a-a8a0-a398cd5b7bb2
Malaeb, Bilal
d2f70c9d-10fb-4460-badd-b20f66084a33
Vlassopoulos, Michael
2d557227-958c-4855-92a8-b74b398f95c7
Wahba, Jackline
03ae9304-c329-40c6-9bfc-d91cfa9e7164
Drouvelis, Michalis, Malaeb, Bilal, Vlassopoulos, Michael and Wahba, Jackline
(2021)
Cooperation in a fragmented society: experimental evidence on Syrian refugees and natives in Lebanon.
Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 187, .
(doi:10.1016/j.jebo.2021.04.032).
Abstract
Lebanon is the country with the highest density of refugees in the world, raising the question of whether the host and refugee populations can cooperate harmoniously. We conduct a lab-in-the-field experiment in Lebanon studying intra- and inter-group behavior of Syrian refugees and Lebanese nationals in a repeated public goods game without and with punishment. We randomly assign participants to Lebanese-only, Syrian-only, or mixed sessions. We find that randomly formed pairs in homogeneous sessions, on average, contribute and punish significantly more than those in mixed sessions, suggesting in-group cooperation is stronger. These patterns are driven by Lebanese participants. Further analysis indicates that behavior in mixed groups is more strongly conditioned on expectations about the partner's cooperation than in homogeneous groups.
Text
Cooperation_in_a_Fragmented_Society
- Accepted Manuscript
More information
Accepted/In Press date: 21 April 2021
e-pub ahead of print date: 12 May 2021
Published date: July 2021
Additional Information:
Funding Information:
Financial support from the Universities of Birmingham and Southampton is gratefully acknowledged. We are grateful for the field assistance of Nayla Abdel Salam, Raya Abou Jaber, Nagham Al Banna, Amani Matar, and the late Yasser Bohsas, and for the research assistance of Sofia Gallo. The study was approved by the University of Southampton IRB under Ethics ID:30483.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 Elsevier B.V.
Copyright:
Copyright 2021 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
Keywords:
Cooperation, Public goods game, Punishment, Refugees
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 449421
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/449421
ISSN: 0167-2681
PURE UUID: 4d908675-376e-4034-8387-69537a86a20f
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Date deposited: 28 May 2021 16:30
Last modified: 17 Mar 2024 06:34
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Contributors
Author:
Michalis Drouvelis
Author:
Bilal Malaeb
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