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Playing with the good guys. A public good game with endogenous group formation

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  • Brekke, Kjell Arne
  • Hauge, Karen Evelyn
  • Lind, Jo Thori
  • Nyborg, Karine

Abstract

Are some individuals generally more pro-social than others? If so, socially beneficial commitments could serve as a costly screening device helping the pro-social to match. We present a public good game experiment in which subjects choose between two group types: in blue groups, subjects receive a fixed extra payoff; in red groups, this extra payoff is donated, instead, to the Red Cross. A substantial share of our subjects chose red groups. Contributions in red groups were initially higher and stayed high, while contributions in blue groups displayed the well-known declining pattern.

Suggested Citation

  • Brekke, Kjell Arne & Hauge, Karen Evelyn & Lind, Jo Thori & Nyborg, Karine, 2011. "Playing with the good guys. A public good game with endogenous group formation," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(9), pages 1111-1118.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:pubeco:v:95:y:2011:i:9:p:1111-1118
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jpubeco.2011.05.003
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Altruism; Conditional cooperation; Self-selection;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D11 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Consumer Economics: Theory
    • D12 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Consumer Economics: Empirical Analysis
    • D64 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Altruism; Philanthropy; Intergenerational Transfers
    • H41 - Public Economics - - Publicly Provided Goods - - - Public Goods

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