The role of anonymity in giving is examined in a field experiment performed in thirty Dutch churches. For a period of 29 weeks, the means by which offerings are gathered is determined by chance, prescribing for each offering the use of either 'closed' collection bags or open collection baskets. When using baskets, attendees can see the contribution made by their direct neighbors as well as the total amount already gathered. Contributions to offerings with an external cause initally increase by 10% when baskets are used, but this effect peters out over time. No effect is found for offerings with an internal cause. This result can be explained by the presence of social incentives, but is also in line with recent studies showing that asymmetric information about the quality of the charity leads to increased contributions.
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Paper provided by The Field Experiments Website in its series Framed Field Experiments with number
0066.
Find related papers by JEL classification: C93 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Field Experiments D64 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Altruism D82 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Asymmetric and Private Information Z12 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Religion
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