Lucas C Coffman (Harvard University) has posted Intermediation Reduces Punishment on SSRN. Here is the abstract:
This research experimentally identifies the belief that an action is less blameworthy when separated from the outcome by another actor. Contrary to current economic models of fairness, keeping money at the expense of a poorer player is punished less when done through an intermediary, even when the intermediary is not at all responsible. Even subjects who believe intermediation leads to unfair outcomes and subjects who believe others intermediate to avoid punishment, punish intermediation less. This suggests they are not confused or lacking thoughtfulness, but rather consciously believe intermediating is the less blameworthy thing to do. The resulting profit-maximizing strategy is to intermediate and choose a selfish allocation. Consequently, in treatments when an intermediary is available, the minimum payoff (and equity) decreases substantially.
This paper is very cool. Download it while its hot!
