HORIZONTAL SOCIAL COMPARISONS AND VERTICAL RECIPROCITY IN A PRINCIPAL–MULTI‐AGENT EXPERIMENT

The aim of this note is to investigate whether the incentive mechanism based on reciprocity is still effective in the presence of several agents by exploring a principal–multi‐agent relationship in a gift‐exchange experiment. The results show that horizontal social comparisons between agents can undermine the vertical reciprocity‐driven incentive mechanism. When long‐term relationships or merit procedures are introduced in the experiment, reciprocity becomes effective again.     

Reciprocity and Giving in a Consecutive Three‐Person Dictator Game with Social Interaction

We study pure indirect reciprocity by setting up a modified dictator game with three players A, B, and C acting sequentially. Subject A takes a share of a pie and passes the rest to subject B, while B divides the rest between herself and C. We find that this consecutive three‐person dictator game increases generosity compared with the traditional two‐person dictator game. We analyze the influence of social interaction and uncertainty. In treatments with certainty we observe pure indirect reciprocity: B indirectly reciprocates for A's behavior in the decision on how generous to be to C.     

A Social Contract Account for CSR as an Extended Model of Corporate Governance (II): Compliance,Reputation and Reciprocity

This essay seeks to give a contractarian foundation to the concept of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), meant as an extended model of corporate governance of the firm. Whereas, justificatory issues have been discussed in a related paper (Sacconi, L.: 2006b, this journal), in this essay I focus on the implementation of and compliance with this normative model. The theory of reputation games, with reference to the basic game of trust, is introduced in order to make sense of self-regulation as a way to implement the social contract on the multi-fiduciary model of corporate governance. This affords understanding of why self-regulation, meant as mere recourse to a long-run strategy in a repeated trust game, fails. Two basic problems for the functioning of the reputation mechanism are examined: the cognitive fragility problem, and the motivational problem. As regards the cognitive fragilities of reputation (which result from the impact of unforeseen contingencies and from bounded rationality), the paper develops the logic and the structure that self-regulatory norms must satisfy if they are to serve as gap-filling tools with which to remedy cognitive limitations in the reputation mechanism. The motivation problem then arises from the possibility of sophisticated abuse by the firm. Developed in this case is an entirely new application of the theory of conformism-and-reciprocity-based preferences, the result of which is that the stakeholders refuse to acquiesce to sophisticated abuse on the part of the firm. Lorenzo Sacconi is professor of economics and Unicredit Chair in economic ethics and corporate social responsibility at the Department of Economics of the University of Trento, where he leads the LaSER - Laboratory of research in Social responsibility, Ethics and Rationality, and head of the graduate program (laurea magistralis) in “economic decisions, enterprise and corporate social responsibility”. He is also director of EconomEtica, the interuniversity centre for economic ethics and corporate social responsibility joining over 20 Italian Universities placed at the Milano-Bicocca University. Past president of tthe Italian Business Ethics Network and past member of the EBEN executive committtee, currrently he is a member of the executive committee of the Italian chapter of EBEN (EBEN Italy). On related subjects, he is author of the book: The social contract of the firm, Springer, 2000     

Ethics,Power and Communities: Corporate Social Responsibility Revisited

Ally-building can be an ethical pursuit in developing sources of power for the business manager. The commitment to social responsibility is a source of power, as well as an ethical practice for corporate endeavors. Pfeffer promotes a business manager’s ability to develop effectiveness with ties to powerful others in an intra-organizational environment. This paper advances an analysis about how individuals in corporations may use an inter-organizational approach to developing sources of power through a notion of corporate social responsibility. As such, a more meaningful qualitative reciprocity between corporations and the communities in which they operate can be developed. And, this relationship develops a source of power for the individual involved in this effort. In other words, relationships with powerful others in the community could develop by revisiting CSR based on reciprocity and exchange of sustainability in a community, rather than on a notion of paternal responsibility to some particular construct in society. Denise Kleinrichert has published papers on the areas of business ethics, corporate social responsibility, and applied ethics, as well as a book and a forthcoming chapter in socio-economic history. She has a Master in Liberal Arts degree in Humanities with an emphasis in Social and Political Thought from the University of South Florida, as well as her Bachelors degree in Economics with minors in Political Science and Sociology from Indiana University. She also has extensive corporate experience in human resources and risk management. Currently, she teaches Ethics and Business and Honors Applied Ethics at University of South Florida and is finishing her Ph.D. in Philosophy at this University.     

Understanding Trade Balances and Reciprocity in Global Telecom Between Asia and the United States (1984–2000)

ABSTRACT

From 1982 to 1997, the balance of trade deficit for U.S. telecommunications services increased tenfold. In the years since that time, the increase became less dramatic and eventually began to decline due to global deregulation and privatization efforts, as well as to multilateral agreements forged by most major countries. The countries of Asia contributed greatly to this increase and have also been examples of the reversal of the balance of trade deficit in recent years. Our analysis identifies partner reciprocity as a core issue of the international long-distance industry. We integrate various literature streams to better understand the issue of international reciprocity in service industries. Furthermore, we identify the trends in global telecom that explain the historical imbalanced reciprocity period between 1984 and 1997 and the more recent period where a more balanced reciprocity has existed between the United States and the Asian region.     

Employee perceptions of corporate partnership: An affective-moral quid pro quo

An affective-moral quid pro quo model provided the framework to test the relationship between worker satisfaction, perceptions of employees' citizenship behavior, and corporate commitment to moral-ethical ideals. A total of 198 full-time employees from a wide variety of work settings anonymously completed questionnaires. More than half of the respondents held management or supervisory positions; the number of males and females was nearly equal. Participants who indicated high satisfaction with work, promotions, and co-workers, and who viewed employees in their work setting as altruistic, perceived their organization as committed to employee welfare, employee rights, product quality, and as good corporate citizens.     

Organization–stakeholder fit: A dynamic theory of cooperation,compromise, and conflict between an organization and its stakeholders

Research Summary : We advance the concept of organization–stakeholder fit (O–S fit) to explain cooperative behavior between an organization and its stakeholders. O–S fit describes the compatibility that exists between an organization and a stakeholder when their characteristics are well matched. We highlight two dimensions of O–S fit: value congruence, or the supplementary fit of organizational and stakeholder values, and strategic complementarity, or the complementary fit of strategic needs and resources. For each dimension, we detail the unique relational factors—including core elements of trust, predictability, attraction/exchange, and communication—that motivate cooperation. We then explicate the ways in which value congruence and strategic complementarity dynamically interrelate over time. Finally, we consider how organization‐stakeholder misfit may result in alternative relational behaviors, such as conflict or compromise. Managerial Summary : We develop a new way of thinking about the relationship between organizations and stakeholders. Recognizing that positive relationships require a degree of fit or compatibility, we argue that cooperative behavior between an organization and its stakeholders is maximized when relational partners share both core values and strategic priorities. We explain that high fit along these two dimensions increases trust, relational predictability, attraction/exchange, and communication. We also describe how positive relationships might be formed with fit along only one dimension, and how negative relationships might result in the presence of misfit. Ultimately, we suggest that managers who want to foster positive relationships with stakeholders should concentrate on aligning their values and priorities, rather than simply concentrating on one or the other.     

多边贸易体制互惠原则探析——兼论多边贸易体制对发展中和 “非市场经济 ”成员的差别待遇

互惠是人类合作关系的基石,国际贸易协定将之作为基本原则原因正在于此。在多边贸易体制中,互惠虽未得到明确界定,但却被公认与最惠国共同构成其两个基本原则,互惠是双边谈判的动因和策略,最惠国则是双边谈判成果多边化的实现机制。与最惠国的有条件性和无条件性相对应,互惠有特定和一般之分。由于一般互惠缺乏严格的减让对等和利益平衡,多边贸易体制始终是特定互惠和一般互惠的混合,并在对发达成员、发展中成员和"非市场经济"成员分别强调不同互惠待遇的基础上,形成了一个三层结构。     

Gender differences in trust and reciprocity: evidence from a large-scale experiment with heterogeneous subjects

This article examines gender differences in an experimental trust game. Recent studies have shown that men trust more and that women are more reciprocal in laboratory experiments. Participants in these studies, however, are typically university students who may not be representative of the entire population. In this study, we use data from a large-scale experiment with heterogeneous subjects who are representative of the German population. We find that men exhibit not only more trusting behaviour, but also more reciprocating behaviour than women. Moreover, our results are indicative of age-dependent gender differences. For men, we find an inverse U-shaped relationship between age, on the one hand, and both trust and reciprocity, on the other; however, we do not find age effects for women.