TY - JOUR
T1 - Cooperation in a fragmented society
T2 - experimental evidence on Syrian refugees and natives in Lebanon
AU - Drouvelis, Michalis
AU - Malaeb, Bilal
AU - Vlassopoulos, Michael
AU - Wahba, Jackline
PY - 2021/7
Y1 - 2021/7
N2 - 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.
AB - 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.
KW - Cooperation
KW - Public goods game
KW - Punishment
KW - Refugees
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85105600905&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.jebo.2021.04.032
DO - 10.1016/j.jebo.2021.04.032
M3 - Article
SN - 0167-2681
VL - 187
SP - 176
EP - 191
JO - Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization
JF - Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization
ER -