Beating by hitting: Group Competition and Punishment

Both group competition and altruistic punishment have been put forward as explanations for sustained cooperation in groups. Yet, punishment costs may be detrimental to a group’s relative fitness in competition with others. We investigate the dynamics of altruistic punishment when there is group competition by conducting a series of experimental public goods games in which we systematically vary the possibility for social comparison, group competition and punishment. Our results indicate that competition attenuates punishing behavior, but leaves contribution levels unchanged despite the relative lack of enforcement