Carrots are better than sticks

摘要

Want cooperation? Try rewarding the helpful rather than punishing wrongdoers.rnIn the public goods game, players choose whether or not to contribute money to a common pool, which is then redistributed equally. As playing groups change after every round, the temptation to freeload - to reap the rewards without contributing anything -often leads to a loss of cooperation. Previous research found this could be overcome if players were able to punish freeloaders.