A new study detailed in a paper co-authored by a UC Santa Barbara scholar finds that rewards generated in a social setting promote cooperation, provide positive reinforcement and avoid the inherent perils of punishment.

 

In “Endogenous Rewards Promote Cooperation,” published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Gary Charness, a professor of economics, and his co-authors report how a two-stage public-goods game (PGG) demonstrated the effectiveness of rewards in influencing behavior.