Effects of Framing, Group Size, and the Contribution Mechanism on Cooperation in Threshold Public Goods and Common Resources Experiments

Abstract: This paper examines cooperation in threshold public goods and common resources games by considering different sizes of groups and contribution mechanisms. Our experimental findings show first that framing has no significant main effect on cooperation, while its interaction with group sizes is significant. More specifically, subjects in small groups preferred giving to not-taking and preferred taking-all to giving-nothing, while subjects in large groups by contrast preferred just the opposite. This indicates that subjects acted more aggressively in small groups, while in large groups they behaved rather passively. Secondly, the continuous contribution mechanism greatly alleviated the incentive to completely free ride in both small and large groups, regardless of the frame. Finally, providing public goods and common resources in small groups was the most effective way of achieving the Pareto efficient outcome and maximizing social welfare