Theft, Gift-Giving, and Reciprocity: A South African Experiment

This paper uses a taking game to examine how South African subjects alter the amount they choose to 'steal' in response to a resource transfer from the potential victim. Any positive resource transfer significantly reduces the amount taken. 'Small' transfers reduce a victim'...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inThe Journal of development studies Vol. 50; no. 11; pp. 1467 - 1481
Main Authors Pecenka, Clinton J., Kundhlande, Godfrey
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Abingdon Routledge 02.11.2014
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Subjects
Bribery
Difference
Experiments
Gift Giving
Gifts
Losses
Payments
Reciprocity
South Africa
Theft
Transfer
Victims
South Africa
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Summary:This paper uses a taking game to examine how South African subjects alter the amount they choose to 'steal' in response to a resource transfer from the potential victim. Any positive resource transfer significantly reduces the amount taken. 'Small' transfers reduce a victim's total losses, including the transfer and the subsequent 'theft'. Larger transfers increase a victim's total losses. This study failed to find that differences in the frame of a transfer (i.e. gift, as a bribe, or as a payment) influenced a taker's response to the transfer.
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-1
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
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ISSN:0022-0388
1743-9140
DOI:10.1080/00220388.2014.925540