Research Project at the Centre
Experimental Analysis of the Behavioural Foundations of Global Cooperation
Dr. Grimalda tackles the topic of global co-operation from the perspective of experimental economics. His project is articulated in four different areas. The first builds on the analysis of experimental fieldwork carried out in six countries at different stages of their globalisation process. The propensity to cooperate at the local, national, and global level was measured experimentally, along with the degree of individuals' integration into large-scale networks of social, economic, and cultural connections. The interaction between global social identity, propensity to co-operate at different levels, exposure to globalisation processes, and country-level global integration, will be analysed. In a second area it is planned to conduct original experimental research on which institutional design is best capable of averting “catastrophic” consequences in public goods provision. This draws on the paradigm of the “collective risk social dilemma”, which has been developed to simulate the dynamics of international negotiations on climate change. In a related area it is planned to undertake experiments with people participating in global negotiations - i.e. diplomats, in order to study their behaviour when involved in situations of bargaining. In a fourth area Dr. Grimalda plans to compare the different propensities to solidarity and demand for redistribution observed experimentally in four countries characterised by different models of welfare state. All these lines of research will feed into a final analysis reflecting on how to address the failures of global cooperation.