The effects of COVID-19 lockdown on fairness and cooperation: Evidence from a lablike experiment

Abstract

We run an experiment to study the effects of Covid-19 lockdown in Italy on preferences for fairness and cooperation. Given the impossibility of having participants in the lab during the lockdown, we adopted an online methodology based on a multi-platform architecture that brings experimental subjects in a “Lab on the Web”. Results from standard Ultimatum and linear Public Good games show that the circumstances in which participants lived the lockdown significantly affect their behavior in the two games. In particular, participants are more selfish in the ultimatum bargaining and contribute more to the public good when social isolation is stronger. However, cooperation decreases when lockdown is longer. We interpret these results as evidence of “social embeddedness” to compensate for “social distancing”.

Exposure to the COVID-19 pandemic environment and generosity

“…There is indeed evidence suggesting that lockdown measures may have a negative impact on prosociality [29]. Note that, since mobility restrictions affected similarly all population strata [30], no moderation effect of age or gender should be expected if lockdown measures are the main triggering factor. Alternatively, it might be argued that lockdowns impact more the youth (in terms of social behaviour and mental health, not in economic terms, which seem to be particularly relevant for older individuals; [31]) due to their higher mobility and more frequent social interactions [32,33].…”

COVID-19 within families amplifies the prosociality gap between adolescents of high and low socioeconomic status

“…Our paper has measured the effects of COVID-19 infections within families on adolescents’ prosociality in a longitudinal panel, by matching experimental choices with survey data and administrative records on adolescents’ socioeconomic background. Accounting for likely channels through which the COVID-19 pandemic might have affected high- and low-SES adolescents’ prosociality (e.g., parents’ having a high-contact job or losing their job), our study is better positioned to examine questions of inequality in terms of SES and the likely causal pathways than earlier analyses of COVID-19 and prosociality, which relied on cross-sectional analyses or priming the salience of COVID-19 ( 29 , 41 – 43 ).…”

The short-term effect of COVID-19 on schoolchildren's generosity

“…There may be several channels. The lack of daily physical contact with peers may lead to enhanced selfishness as testified by Buso et al (2020) who find that stronger social isolation associates with more selfish behavior. Worsening economic situation may also affect generosity, e.g.…”