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Playing with the Good Guys - A Public Good Game with Endogenous Group Formation

Author

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

Abstract

In public good games, voluntary contributions tend to start off high and decline as the game is repeated. If high contributors are matched, however, contributions tend to stay high. We propose a formalization predicting that high contributors will self-select into groups committed to charitable giving. Testing this experimentally, we let subjects choose between two group types, where one type donate a fixed amount to a charity. Contributions in these groups stayed high, whereas contributions in the other groups showed the well known declining pattern. One implication is that corporate social responsibility may attract more responsible employees.

Suggested Citation

  • Kjell Arne Brekke & Karen Evelyn Hauge & Jo Thori Lind & Karine Nyborg, 2009. "Playing with the Good Guys - A Public Good Game with Endogenous Group Formation," CESifo Working Paper Series 2647, CESifo.
    • Handle: RePEc:ces:ceswps:_2647
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    References listed on IDEAS

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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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