4 ms·

This is merely another downside of competition within groups, where a boss or other administrative entity would compare individuals' relative performance, and a

by scrod 16y ago

This is merely another downside of competition within groups, where a boss or other administrative entity would compare individuals' relative performance, and as a result create a group incentive to maintain lower productivity. When group members are directly responsible to each other, as in the case of a small startup or egalitarian cooperative, this effect disappears. I'd imagine it would be fairly straightforward to model this in game-theoretic terms.

Terretta 16y ago
> in the case of a small startup or egalitarian cooperative, this effect disappears Not sure about that egalitarian cooperative counterexample. As shown whenever people are co-opted into a cooperative, "all animals are selfish, but some animals are more selfish than others." However, your startup example is certainly in line with other research suggesting cooperation among kin: http://svenssonresearchlaboratory.blogspot.com/2009/04/understanding-egalitarian-revolution-in.html http://svenssonresearchlaboratory.blogspot.com/2009/04/under... Perhaps the key is the social networking mentioned in this link. These students in this submission's article were not necessarily part of a social network. This has implications for the HR department when a company grows large enough to have a "company culture".
anigbrowl 16y ago
Distressingly, it turns out that antisocial punishment can evolve as easily as social punishment, and has done so in many societies: http://www.iaa.unisg.ch/org/few/web.nsf/SysWebRessources/Pub_CT_Science/$FILE/HerrmannTh%C3%B6niG%C3%A4chter2008(Science)+Antisocial+Punishment+Across+Societies.pdf http://www.iaa.unisg.ch/org/few/web.nsf/SysWebRessources/Pub... This is something of a hot topic in the economics/psychology are now - several new papers are out along the same lines, but most of them are still paywalled. I have a hunch that predispositions to act one way or the other will turn out to be strongly correlated with a person's perceptions of social mobility. A large-scale (albeit stereotypical) example of what the OP is talking about is in the economics of labor relations, where an individual 'eager beaver' attitude and the collective goals of a union are somewhat at odds.
- v21 16y ago
  Name them and maybe some piratical paywall activist will share them for us all.
  - anigbrowl 16y ago
    Tee-hee - it is pretty irritating. Just google 'antisocial punishment' - social punishment is the more familiar phenomenon of not rewarding cheaters, but it turns out not to be the norm in all societies. gScholar has the most 3 or papers near the top of the list.

by scrod 16y ago

Terretta 16y ago

> in the case of a small startup or egalitarian cooperative, this effect disappears Not sure about that egalitarian cooperative counterexample. As shown whenever people are co-opted into a cooperative, "all animals are selfish, but some animals are more selfish than others." However, your startup example is certainly in line with other research suggesting cooperation among kin: http://svenssonresearchlaboratory.blogspot.com/2009/04/understanding-egalitarian-revolution-in.html http://svenssonresearchlaboratory.blogspot.com/2009/04/under... Perhaps the key is the social networking mentioned in this link. These students in this submission's article were not necessarily part of a social network. This has implications for the HR department when a company grows large enough to have a "company culture".

anigbrowl 16y ago

Distressingly, it turns out that antisocial punishment can evolve as easily as social punishment, and has done so in many societies: http://www.iaa.unisg.ch/org/few/web.nsf/SysWebRessources/Pub_CT_Science/$FILE/HerrmannTh%C3%B6niG%C3%A4chter2008(Science)+Antisocial+Punishment+Across+Societies.pdf http://www.iaa.unisg.ch/org/few/web.nsf/SysWebRessources/Pub... This is something of a hot topic in the economics/psychology are now - several new papers are out along the same lines, but most of them are still paywalled. I have a hunch that predispositions to act one way or the other will turn out to be strongly correlated with a person's perceptions of social mobility. A large-scale (albeit stereotypical) example of what the OP is talking about is in the economics of labor relations, where an individual 'eager beaver' attitude and the collective goals of a union are somewhat at odds.

v21 16y ago
Name them and maybe some piratical paywall activist will share them for us all.
- anigbrowl 16y ago
  Tee-hee - it is pretty irritating. Just google 'antisocial punishment' - social punishment is the more familiar phenomenon of not rewarding cheaters, but it turns out not to be the norm in all societies. gScholar has the most 3 or papers near the top of the list.