Cooperation in Networked Public Goods Experiments
Author Information
Author(s): Suri Siddharth, Watts Duncan J.
Primary Institution: Yahoo! Research
Hypothesis
Does network topology affect cooperation in public goods games?
Conclusion
Network topology had no significant effect on average contributions in public goods games.
Supporting Evidence
- Participants played a local public goods game arranged on five network topologies.
- Network topology had no significant effect on average contributions.
- Players behaved like conditional cooperators but were influenced by both high and low contributing neighbors.
- Positive effects of cooperation were only contagious to direct neighbors.
Takeaway
The way people work together in groups doesn't change much based on how those groups are connected.
Methodology
Participants played a public goods game arranged on five different network topologies.
Potential Biases
Potential biases from self-selection of participants on the Amazon Mechanical Turk platform.
Limitations
The study may not generalize to all types of networks or public goods games.
Participant Demographics
{"gender":{"male":61.8,"female":35.5,"did_not_answer":2.7},"average_age":32,"education":{"high_school":21.1,"associates":9.2,"bachelors":42.1,"masters":18.4,"doctorate":3.9,"professional":3.9,"did_not_answer":1.4},"race":{"asian":26.3,"black_or_african_american":1.3,"american_indian_or_alaskan_native":0.7,"white":69.7,"did_not_answer":2.0},"marital_status":{"divorced":4.6,"now_married":42.1,"never_married":49.3,"separated":2.0,"did_not_answer":2.0},"income":{"under_10k":13.8,"10k_to_20k":13.2,"20k_to_30k":9.9,"30k_to_40k":12.5,"40k_to_50k":15.1,"50k_to_60k":7.2,"60k_to_70k":5.3,"70k_to_80k":4.6,"80k_to_90k":2.0,"90k_to_100k":2.6,"100k_to_150k":6.6,"over_150k":5.9,"did_not_answer":1.4}}
Statistical Information
P-Value
p>0.05
Statistical Significance
p>0.05
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
Want to read the original?
Access the complete publication on the publisher's website