Clawback Provisions

Biological Parallel

Honeybee workers enforce biological clawback provisions: when they discover a worker has laid male eggs (claiming reproductive rewards without queen status), they eat the eggs and attack the offender, sometimes killing her. The 'compensation' (reproductive success) is clawed back because it was obtained through deception—workers who lack queen pheromone shouldn't reproduce. This enforcement costs energy but maintains colony integrity, preventing the 10-30% productivity loss that occurs when workers pursue reproduction instead of foraging. Clawback provisions similarly accept short-term costs (legal fees, relationship damage) to deter future fraud.