At the root of the North-South cooperation gap in Italy: Preferences or beliefs?

Bigoni, Maria ; Bortolotti, Stefania ; Casari, Marco ; Gambetta, Diego (2017) At the root of the North-South cooperation gap in Italy: Preferences or beliefs? Bologna: Dipartimento di Scienze economiche DSE, p. 36. DOI 10.6092/unibo/amsacta/5491. In: Quaderni - Working Paper DSE (1092). ISSN 2282-6483.
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Abstract

The marked difference in the development of the North and the South of Italy represents a prototypical case of seemingly intractable within-country disparities. Recent research found that a plausible determinant of this socio-economic gap would be a difference in the ability to cooperate. Through a laboratory experiment we investigate whence this difference derives, whether from different preferences or from different beliefs. Our findings indicate that Northerners and Southerners share the same individual pro-social preferences, and that the cooperation gap lies rather in the pessimistic beliefs that Southerners have about their cooperativeness. Southerners, furthermore, manifest a stronger aversion to social risk, as compared to the risk of nature. A policy implication is that an intervention or an event that reduced pessimistic beliefs would directly boost cooperation levels.

Abstract
Document type
Monograph (Working Paper)
Creators
CreatorsAffiliationORCID
Bigoni, MariaUniversità di Bologna0000-0001-5988-6115
Bortolotti, StefaniaUniversity of Cologne
Casari, MarcoUniversità di Bologna0000-0003-2515-9352
Gambetta, DiegoEuropean University Institute
Keywords
Betrayal aversion, conditional cooperation, experiments, Italy
Subjects
ISSN
2282-6483
DOI
Deposit date
13 Jan 2017 09:48
Last modified
15 Feb 2018 09:52
URI

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