E. Fehr et al., WHEN SOCIAL NORMS OVERPOWER COMPETITION - GIFT EXCHANGE IN EXPERIMENTAL LABOR-MARKETS, Journal of labor economics, 16(2), 1998, pp. 324-351
Do competitive markets remove the effect of social norms on market out
comes? Or are norms capable of exerting a persistent influence! In thi
s article we report the results of a series of competitive market and
bilateral bargaining experiments. They indicate that the norm of recip
rocity gives rise to wages that are persistently above the competitive
level. Moreover, wages under bilateral bargaining conditions coincide
with wages in competitive markets, indicating that competition has a
limited effect when the norm of reciprocity is operative. In addition,
the results show that workers' reciprocal behavior increases effort a
nd, hence, I-he efficiency of trades.