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Warm-Glow Giving and Freedom to Be Selfish

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  • Evren , Ozgur

  • Minardi , Stefania

Abstract

Warm-glow refers to other-serving behavior that is valuable for the actor per se, apart from its social implications. We provide axiomatic foundations for warm-glow by viewing it as a form of preference for larger choice sets driven by one's desire for freedom to act selfishly. Specifically, an individual who experiences warm-glow values the availability of selfish options even if she plans to act unselfishly. Our theory accommodates the empirical findings on motivation crowding out and provides clear-cut predictions for empirically distinguishing between warm-glow and other motivations for prosocial behavior, a task of obvious importance for policy. The choice behavior implied by our theory subsumes Riker and Ordeshook (1968) on voting and Andreoni (1989, 1990) on the provision of public goods.

Suggested Citation

  • Evren , Ozgur & Minardi , Stefania, 2013. "Warm-Glow Giving and Freedom to Be Selfish," HEC Research Papers Series 1011, HEC Paris.
    • Handle: RePEc:ebg:heccah:1011
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    Cited by:

    1. Abhinash Borah, 2019. "Voting Expressively," Working Papers 1012, Ashoka University, Department of Economics.
    2. Yosuke Hashidate, 2018. "Social Image Concern and Reference Point Formation," CIRJE F-Series CIRJE-F-1085, CIRJE, Faculty of Economics, University of Tokyo.
    3. Panagiotis Andrikopoulos & Nick Webber, 2019. "Understanding time-inconsistent heterogeneous preferences in economics and finance: a practice theory approach," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 282(1), pages 3-26, November.
    4. Nadine Chlaß & Lata Gangadharan & Kristy Jones, 2023. "Charitable giving and intermediation: a principal agent problem with hidden prices," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 75(4), pages 941-961.
    5. Card. Johnson, Rutherford & Walker II, Eddie G., . "Willingness to Pay for Recreational Land Use in Minnesota," International Journal of Food and Agricultural Economics (IJFAEC), Alanya Alaaddin Keykubat University, Department of Economics and Finance, vol. 9(01).
    6. Metzger, Laura & Günther, Isabel, 2019. "Making an impact? The relevance of information on aid effectiveness for charitable giving. A laboratory experiment," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 136(C), pages 18-33.
    7. Kopylov, Igor, 2016. "Canonical utility functions and continuous preference extensions," Journal of Mathematical Economics, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 32-37.
    8. Abhinash Borah, 2021. "Moral Hypocrisy in Social Preferences," Working Papers 53, Ashoka University, Department of Economics.
    9. Ratilla, Mark & Salgado, Stéphane & Cavite, Harry Jay & Dey, Sandeep, 2025. "Peer-provider participation in the sharing economy: The moderating role of warm glow emotion and underlying motivations," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    10. Piermont, Evan, 2025. "Images and norms," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 233(C).
    11. Datu Buyung Agusdinata & Heide Lukosch, 2019. "Supporting Interventions to Reduce Household Greenhouse Gas Emissions: A Transdisciplinary Role-Playing Game Development," Simulation & Gaming, , vol. 50(3), pages 359-376, June.
    12. Renström, Thomas I. & Spataro, Luca & Marsiliani, Laura, 2021. "Can subsidies rather than pollution taxes break the trade-off between economic output and environmental protection?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(C).
    13. Sintayoh Fissha Geberegziabher & Shahid Islam, 2022. "Voices of Tigray Women on the 2020 Election: The Freedom to Vote," International Journal of Regional Development, Macrothink Institute, vol. 9(2), pages 1-14, December.
    14. Jonathan Morduch & Ariane Szafarz, 2018. "Earning to Give: Occupational Choice for Effective Altruists," Working Papers CEB 18-017, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    15. Yosuke Hashidate & Tetsuya Kawamura & Fabrice Le Lec & Yusuke Osaki & Benoît Tarroux, 2024. "Impure motivations in social preferences: Experimental evidence from menu choices," Working Papers 2406, Groupe d'Analyse et de Théorie Economique Lyon St-Étienne (GATE Lyon St-Étienne), Université de Lyon.
    16. Ellingsen, Tore & Mohlin, Erik, 2022. "A Model of Social Duties," Working Papers 2022:14, Lund University, Department of Economics.
    17. Chandrasekher, Madhav, 2018. "Informal commitments in planner–doer games," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 173(C), pages 201-230.

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    JEL classification:

    • D11 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Consumer Economics: Theory
    • D64 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Altruism; Philanthropy; Intergenerational Transfers
    • D81 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Criteria for Decision-Making under Risk and Uncertainty

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