The Absence of Policing and the Political Economy of Contribution and Defection

ABSTRACT Punishment is crucial to maintain contribution and to prevent defection in societies. Previous research has shown in small groups that cooperation drops (defection rises) and rises (defection drops) immediately when punishment disappears and reappears. I will discuss this effect for large groups (societies), real-world environment in the form of the absence of policing. On the contrary to small group experiments, there are contribution delays and defection delays following punishment disappearance and reappearance. The length of these delays varies and seems to depend on aspects like trust, transparency, media-behavior, or democratic affection. All these aspects have politico-economic implications.