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  3. American Economic Review
  4. March 2009
  5. The Value of Groups

American Economic Review

ISSN 0002-8282 (Print) | ISSN 1944-7981 (Online)

The Value of Groups

  • Shaun P. Hargreaves Heap
  • Daniel John Zizzo
American Economic Review
vol. 99, no. 1, March 2009
(pp. 295–323)
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Abstract

We present the results of an experiment that attempts to measure the social value of groups. In the experiment, group membership is induced artificially: subjects interact with insiders and outsiders in trust games and periodically enter markets where they can trade group membership. We find that trust falls with groups because of negative discrimination against outsiders. Against this, however, there is evidence that group membership provides a psychological benefit, albeit one that may induce social inertia. Overall, the welfare effects of groups are at best neutral and could be negative. (JEL: D17, Z13)

Citation

Hargreaves Heap, Shaun P., and Daniel John Zizzo. 2009. "The Value of Groups." American Economic Review, 99 (1): 295–323. DOI: 10.1257/aer.99.1.295

Additional Materials

JEL Classification

  • D71 Social Choice; Clubs; Committees; Associations
  • Z13 Economic Sociology; Economic Anthropology