When Punishment Doesn't Pay: 'Cold Glow' and Decisions to Punish

Economic theories of punishment focus on determining the levels that provide maximal social material payoffs. In calculating these levels several parameters are key: total social costs, total social benefits and the probability that offenders are apprehended. However, levels of punishment often are determined by aggregates of individual decisions. Research in behavioral economics, psychology and neuroscience shows that individuals appear to...