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Social Information and Charitable Giving: An artefactual field experiment with young children and adolescents

Author

Listed:
  • Guzmán, Andrea

    (Universidad Nacional de Colombia-Sede Medellin)

  • Villegas-Palacio, Clara

    (Universidad Nacional de Colombia-Sede Medellin)

  • Wollbrant, Conny

    (Department of Economics, School of Business, Economics and Law, Göteborg University)

Abstract

A growing literature in economics examines the development of preferences among children and adolescents. We combine a repeated dictator game with treatments that either provides participants with information about the average behavior of others or not. In a sample of 384 children aged 5-17, we find an increase in donations until the age of 13-14, but not beyond.We find no effect of social information on average donation behavior in any of the studied age-groups, but do find effects on the distributions of donations.

Suggested Citation

  • Guzmán, Andrea & Villegas-Palacio, Clara & Wollbrant, Conny, 2013. "Social Information and Charitable Giving: An artefactual field experiment with young children and adolescents," Working Papers in Economics 564, University of Gothenburg, Department of Economics, revised Nov 2014.
    • Handle: RePEc:hhs:gunwpe:0564
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    File URL: https://gupea.ub.gu.se/handle/2077/32625
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Becker, Gary S, 1974. "A Theory of Social Interactions," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 82(6), pages 1063-1093, Nov.-Dec..
    2. Martinsson, Peter & Nordblom, Katarina & Rützler, Daniela & Sutter, Matthias, 2011. "Social preferences during childhood and the role of gender and age -- An experiment in Austria and Sweden," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 110(3), pages 248-251, March.
    3. Kocher, Martin & Martinsson, Peter & Visser, Martine, 2012. "Social background, cooperative behavior, and norm enforcement," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 81(2), pages 341-354.
    4. Ernst Fehr & Urs Fischbacher, "undated". "Why Social Preferences Matter - The Impact of Non-Selfish Motives on Competition," IEW - Working Papers 084, Institute for Empirical Research in Economics - University of Zurich.
    5. repec:cup:judgdm:v:7:y:2012:i:3:p:304-315 is not listed on IDEAS
    6. Eckel, Catherine C. & Grossman, Philip J., 1996. "Altruism in Anonymous Dictator Games," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 16(2), pages 181-191, October.
    7. List, John A. & Samak, Anya C., 2013. "Exploring the origins of charitable acts: Evidence from an artefactual field experiment with young children," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 118(3), pages 431-434.
    8. Ernst Fehr & Urs Fischbacher, 2002. "Why Social Preferences Matter -- The Impact of Non-Selfish Motives on Competition, Cooperation and Incentives," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 112(478), pages 1-33, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Children; Charitable giving; Social information; Preference development;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C93 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Field Experiments
    • D02 - Microeconomics - - General - - - Institutions: Design, Formation, Operations, and Impact
    • D03 - Microeconomics - - General - - - Behavioral Microeconomics: Underlying Principles
    • D64 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Altruism; Philanthropy; Intergenerational Transfers

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