SEMINAR 17 January 2013: Emma von Essen, University of Stockholm

Punishment and Status

Abstract

Social hierarchy is persistent in almost all societies. Social norms and their enforcement are part of sustaining hierarchical systems. This paper investigates how relative social status of a norm violator influences third party punishment game. Status is conveyed by surnames; dictators with high status have a noble name, and dictators with low status have a common name. Receivers and third parties all have common names. We find that low status men are punished to a greater extent than low status women, high status women, and high status men. Interestingly, discriminatory behavior occurs only in male-to-male interactions. For offers below 40 percent of the allocated resource, male third parties punish male dictators with low status almost twice as much as their high status counterparts. Thus, economic punishment is significantly influenced by social status.

Key words: Status, punishment, discrimination, experiment

JEL-Code: C91, D03