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Finance and economics: The economics of generosity The kindness of neighbours
財經：慷慨經濟學 鄰居的善意
A new paper asks why some Tanzanian farmers are more selfish than others.
一份新的報紙說為何一些坦桑尼亞農民比其他人更自私。
In the semi-arid lowlands of Mufindi, in southern Tanzania, water is hard to come by.
姆芬迪低地位于坦桑尼亞南部，屬半干旱氣候，水資源匱乏。
Villagers rely on irrigation to grow maize, potatoes and spinach.
村民依靠灌溉設施種植玉米、土豆和菠菜。
Informal and often woolly codes govern how much water each farmer diverts to their own fields, and how much they leave for their neighbours downstream.
農民自家用多少水，給下游鄉親留多少水，沒有官方說法，也沒有明確標準。
Some farmers, naturally, turn out to be more grasping than others.
一些村民相比其他人表現出了較為貪婪的本性。
Economists typically see such decisions as irreducible: there is no accounting for individuals' values and preferences.
經濟學家普遍認為，每個人有各自的價值觀和偏好，所以水資源分配的決策也很難一概而論。
But a new study investigates why there is such variation in generosity among Mufindi's farmers.
但一項新研究探討了姆芬迪農民慷慨程度差異背后的原因。
The researchers asked other villagers to rank each farmer's social status on a scale of one to four.
研究人員要求其他村民將每個農民的社會地位按一到四分級。
Then they invited the farmers to take part in a game in which participants had to decide how much water they would take under different scenarios.
然后，他們邀請農民參與一項游戲。游戲中，參與者要決定自己在不同情境下的用水量。
Participants were paid small sums, which varied according to how well they did in the game.
參與者根據表現可以拿到少額不同的報酬。
They received more money if they reaped a bigger harvest by taking more than their share of water, for instance, but less if the other villagers fined them for violating water-sharing norms.
例如，如果取水量大于應得份額，收成就更好，參與者得到的報酬就更高；但如果因違反水資源共享規則而遭到其他村民罰款，報酬就會少一些。
In hypothetical times of scarcity, only high-status women shared the water fairly.
在水資源稀缺的假設條件下，只有地位高的女性公平共享了水資源。
Low-status men and women would share fairly when water was plentiful, but were stingier when water was scarce.
地位低的男性和女性，當水資源豐富時尚能公平分享，匱乏時則吝嗇得多。
High-status men hogged water at all times.
地位高的男性不論何時都會獨占水資源。
Rather than simply conclude that some farmers were more altruistic than others, however, the researchers split the participants into groups by status and gender to discuss the outcome.
研究人員沒有將上述現象簡單地歸結為一些農民更為大公無私，而是將參與者按照社會地位和性別分組以便討論結果。
Rich and powerful men, it turned out, were less worried about being greedy, either because the gains dwarfed any fine, or because they assumed their downstream neighbours would not dare complain.
研究表明，有錢有勢的男性之所以不那么在意自己是否太貪婪了，要么是因為貪婪帶來的收益遠遠超過了罰款，要么是因為他們認為下游鄰居不敢抱怨。
One villager said that she had to keep quiet, since the person overusing the water was influential.
一位村民談到，濫用水的那個人很有勢力，她只能閉嘴。
By contrast, another said, “Low-status people are not expected to break the rules.”
相反，也有人說：“不要指望下層人打破規矩。”
Women, even of high status, also seem inhibited.
女性，甚至地位高的女性，看起來都十分克制。
The apparent generosity of women and the poor, in short, may not be the product of compassion, but of discrimination.
簡言之，女性和窮人所表現出的慷慨，不是出于同情，而是由于受到了歧視。
譯文編自simubai
