The Persistent Effect of Competition on Prosociality

Arbeitspapier

We present the first causal evidence on the persistent impact of enduring competition on prosociality. Inspired by the literature on tournaments within firms, which shows that competitive compensation schemes reduce cooperation in the short-run, we explore if enduring exposure to a competitive environment persistently attenuates prosociality. Based on a large-scale randomized intervention in the education context, we find lower levels of prosociality for students who just experienced a 2-year competition period. 4-year follow-up data indicate that the effect persists and generalizes, suggesting a change in traits and not only in behavior.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: Discussion Paper ; No. 449

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Altruism; Philanthropy; Intergenerational Transfers ; Design of Experiments: General
• Subject: prosociality ; competition ; cooperation ; social skills ; socio-emotional skills ; tournaments ; comparative pay ; incentive schemes

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Kosse, Fabian ; Rajan, Ranjita ; Tincani, Michela
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München und Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Collaborative Research Center Transregio 190 - Rationality and Competition
• (where): München und Berlin
• (when): 2023

Further information

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/282140
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:43 AM CET