Articles

An experimental test of warm glow giving

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Thu, 08/22/2019 - 16:08

This paper reports the results of an experimental test of the warm glow hypothesis. A participant is presented with the opportunity to contribute from her own endowment to a charity of choice. The experiment is designed so that a pure altruist has no incentive to donate. The amount the designated charity will receive is preset; any contribution by the participant crowds out dollar-for-dollar giving by the proctor. We find that participants, on average, donated 20% of their endowments and that approximately 57% of the participants made a donation. © 2008 Elsevier B.V.

What do donations buy? A model of philanthropy based on prestige and warm glow

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Thu, 08/22/2019 - 16:08

Charities publicize the donations they receive, generally according to dollar categories rather than the exact amount. Donors in turn tend to give the minimum amount necessary to get into a category. These facts suggest that donors have a taste for having their donations made public. This paper models the effects of such a taste for prestige" on the behavior of donors and charities. I show how a taste for prestige means that charities can increase donations by using categories. The paper also discusses the effect of a taste for prestige on competition between charities."

Social image and the 50-50 norm: A theoretical and experimental analysis of audience effects

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Thu, 08/22/2019 - 16:08

A norm of 50-50 division appears to have considerable force in a wide range of economic environments, both in the real world and in the laboratory. Even in settings where one party unilaterally determines the allocation of a prize (the dictator game), many subjects voluntarily cede exactly half to another individual. The hypothesis that people care about fairness does not by itself account for key experimental patterns. We consider an alternative explanation, which adds the hypothesis that people like to be perceived as fair.