Anomalous Behavior in Linear Public Goods Experiments: How Much and Why?
Abstract
We report the results of voluntary contributions experiments where subjects are randomly assigned different rates of return from their private consumption. These random assignments are changed round to round, enabling the measurement of individual player contribution rates as a function of that player's investment cost. We directly test these response functions for the presence of warm-glow and/or altruism effects. We find significant evidence for heterogeneous warm-glow effects that are, on average, low in magnitude. We statistically reject the presence of an altruism effect.
Acknowledgement
The financial support of the National Science Foundation is gratefully acknowledged. We thank Roger Gordon, R. Mark Isaac, John Ledyard, Jimmy Walker, Nat Wilcox, and four referees for offering helpful suggestions and comments. The views expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the California Institute of Technology or the Federal Communications Commission.
Additional Information
Published as Palfrey, Thomas R. and Prisbrey, Jeffrey E. (1997) Anomalous Behavior in Linear Public Goods Experiments: How Much and why? American Economic Review, 87 (5). pp. 829-846.
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Additional details
- NSF
- Caltech groups
- Social Science Working Papers
- Other Numbering System Name
- Social Science Working Paper
- Other Numbering System Identifier
- 833
- Publication Status
- Published