title: Altruistic punishment: what field data can (and cannot) demonstrate.
abstract: The rarity of altruistic punishment in small-scale societies should not be interpreted as evidence that altruistic punishment is not an important determinant of cooperation in general. While it is essential to collect field data on altruistic punishment, this kind of data has limitations. Laboratory experiments can help shed light on the role of altruistic punishment "in the wild."
authors.affiliation: Department of Economics, University of Melbourne, 3010 Victoria, Australia. n.nikiforakis@unimelb.edu.au
authors.forename: Nikos
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Nikiforakis
mesh_terms: D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D005716:Game Theory; D006801:Humans; D008960:Models, Psychological; D011678:Punishment / Q000523:psychology*; D012919:Social Behavior