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Incentives and prosocial behavior in democratic societies

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  • Anesi, Vincent

Abstract

This paper studies the relationship between monetary incentives to encourage citizens' contributions to a social good (voting, charity donation, etc.) and the society's consideration for that good in the presence of social signaling. We establish that, no matter how much citizens value the social good, low incentives (or disincentives) may emerge as the unique majority voting outcome when concerns for social reputation are sufficiently high.

Suggested Citation

  • Anesi, Vincent, 2008. "Incentives and prosocial behavior in democratic societies," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 29(6), pages 849-855, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:joepsy:v:29:y:2008:i:6:p:849-855
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Dennis Epple & Richard Romano, 2003. "Collective Choice and Voluntary Provision of Public Goods," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 44(2), pages 545-572, May.
    2. Jean Tirole & Roland Bénabou, 2006. "Incentives and Prosocial Behavior," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 96(5), pages 1652-1678, December.
    3. Bruno S. Frey & Reto Jegen, 2001. "Motivation Crowding Theory," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 15(5), pages 589-611, December.
    4. Andreoni, James, 1989. "Giving with Impure Altruism: Applications to Charity and Ricardian Equivalence," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 97(6), pages 1447-1458, December.
    5. Scharf, Kimberley Ann, 2000. "Why are tax expenditures for giving embodied in fiscal constitutions?," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 75(3), pages 365-387, March.
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    1. Graf, Caroline & Suanet, Bianca & Wiepking, Pamala & Merz, Eva-Maria, 2023. "Social norms offer explanation for inconsistent effects of incentives on prosocial behavior," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 211(C), pages 429-441.
    2. Garcίa-Yi, Jaqueline, 2010. "Heterogeneous Motivations of Household - Level Coca Growing Areas: The Case of an Indigenous Community in Peru," Proceedings of the German Development Economics Conference, Hannover 2010 23, Verein für Socialpolitik, Research Committee Development Economics.
    3. Farrar, Jonathan & Hausserman, Cass & Rennie, Morina, 2019. "The influence of revenge and financial rewards on tax fraud reporting intentions," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 102-116.
    4. Elif Incekara‐Hafalir & Raymond Kumar & Juliana Silva‐Goncalves, 2022. "The effect of payment medium on effort," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 60(3), pages 1111-1126, July.
    5. Róbert F. Veszteg & Erita Narhetali, 2010. "Public‐good games and the Balinese," International Journal of Social Economics, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 37(9), pages 660-675, August.

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