Research On Assortative Matching Groups And Voluntary Contributions Behavior Under Uncertain Preferences

In real life,individual decision-making is inseparable from those of group backgrounds.However,in the face of ubiquitous social dilemmas,pro-social behaviors that violating the self-interest assumption are widespread.In recent years,behavioral and experimental economics have refuted the self-interest assumption based on the Rational Economic Man by a series of experimental game theory,integrating the psychological preference factors to explore the inner relationship with cooperation.Although the Preference theory is widely used in various fields such as incentive mechanism design,cooperative system,collective action and so forth,discussing the influence of exogenous factors on cooperative behavior at a macro level.At a micro-level,however,it is still worth exploring how individual members who are in the group will be affected by factors from the individual level,the group level,and the interaction process.The research defines the related concepts of voluntary contributions under the influence of uncertain preferences.Starting from the concepts: the decision-making preference,matching mechanism,and group representative,the research extends to group decision-making under uncertain preferences.We integrated the individual level with the group level to form an analysis framework for assortative matching groups and voluntary contributions.The experiments were mainly divided into three parts,the experiment of the group representative,the experiment of group members' requests,and the experiment of assortative matching group formation in a repeated public goods game respectively.Based on the repeated public goods game,focus on the decision-making process instead of decisions.Applied to the decision-maker,exploring the changes of social preferences,as well as motivation to maintain the group cooperation.Based on existing research,the research combined the decision-making process with inter-group relations.Not only paid attention to individual heterogeneous behaviors but also paid attention to grouplevel selection,bridging the gap between experimental and non-experimental studies in assortative matching groups.Summarizing the research results,first and foremost,the experiment of group representative:(1)the role of group representative stimulated the sense of group responsibility;(2)the rotating group representative promoted the decision-maker making contributions at the group level;(3)compared to the decisions made by individuals,the decisions made by group representatives could maintain stable cooperation;(4)the initial belief of group contribution has a profound influence.In addition,the experiment of the group members' requests:(1)subjects formed their requests similarly compared with those who were in the group representatives treatments;(2)individuals formed requests based more on other members' previous requests in the representative treatments;(3)subjects who made decisions as individuals updated requests relied on previous actual group contributions;(4)the declining contribution resulted from different reactions to group members' requests.Last but not least,the experiment of assortative matching group formation in a repeated public goods game:(1)the declining contribution in the assortative matching groups resulted from different feedback paths;(2)assortative matching groups strengthened the group identity,which promoted individual decision-maker making contributions at the group level;(3)the belief formation process resulted in the disparity of contribution,which means individuals will contribute more after they made sure they were matched in the group with members who have similar preferences;(4)compared to decisions made by individuals,the role of group representative has a positive impact on group contribution;(5)compared to decisions made by individuals,the belief formation process has a positive effect on group contribution under assortative matching groups.The research has provided evidence for social governance,policy formulation,group cooperation,group management and so forth at a micro level,promoting cooperation and performance incentives in small groups.Although the experiments cannot fully simulate all social dilemmas similar to public goods game in real life,it can efficiently reflect the influence of groups with assortative matching on voluntary contributions.