, even if punishment is costly. However, these studies focus on situations where there is no uncertainty about others …' behavior. We investigate punishment in a world with “reasonable doubt” about others' contributions. Interestingly, people … level of a setting without punishment. Our findings suggest that sufficient information accuracy about others' behavior is …

, even if punishment is costly. However, these studies focus on situations where there is no uncertainty about others …' behavior. We investigate punishment in a world with “reasonable doubt” about others' contributions. Interestingly, people … some non-trivial degree of noise, punishment (1) cannot maintain high contributions and (2) reduces welfare even below the …

Carpenter and Matthews (2009) examine the cooperation norms determining people's punishment behavior in a social … punishment. Using multiple punishment stages and self-contained episodes of interaction, we disentangle the effects of … retaliation and norm-related punishment. An additional treatment provides data on the norms bystanders use in judging punishment …

punishment, so that they increase overall welfare? We report an experiment in which players can issue non-binding threats to … their actual punishment level. We find that threats increase the level of contributions significantly. Efficiency is … punishment leads to lower threats, cooperation and welfare, restoring them to levels equal to or below the levels attained in the …

punishment opportunities are restricted to agents who are linked through alternative punishment networks. We find that the … structure of the punishment network significantly impacts contributions to the public good, but not overall efficiencies …. Contributions collapse over decision rounds in groups with limited punishment opportunities, even if the absolute punishment …