Friday, May 30, 2008

How different cultures deal with free loaders

From the WSJ's Science Journal - WSJ.com:
"In the most sweeping global study yet of cooperaton, a team of experimental economists tested university students in 15 countries to see how people contribute to joint ventures and what happens to them when they don't. The European research team discovered startling differences in how groups around the world react when punishment is handed out for antisocial behavior."
Another look in:
"Among students in the U.S., Switzerland, China and the U.K., those identified as freeloaders most often took their punishment as a spur to contribute more generously. But in Oman, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Greece and Russia, the freeloaders more often struck back, retaliating against those who punished them...."
The actual article is here.

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