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Altruistic punishment: What field data can (and cannot) demonstrate

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 January 2012

Nikos Nikiforakis
Nikos Nikiforakis
Affiliation:
Department of Economics, University of Melbourne, 3010 Victoria, Australia. n.nikiforakis@unimelb.edu.auhttp://www.economics.unimelb.edu.au/staff/nikosn/
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Abstract

The rarity of altruistic punishment in small-scale societies should not be interpreted as evidence that altruistic punishment is not an important determinant of cooperation in general. While it is essential to collect field data on altruistic punishment, this kind of data has limitations. Laboratory experiments can help shed light on the role of altruistic punishment “in the wild.”

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 35 , Issue 1 , February 2012 , pp. 32 - 33
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2012

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