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Giving and Sorting among Friends: Evidence from a Lab-in-the-Field Experiment

Author

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  • Binzel, Christine

    (University of Erlangen-Nuremberg)

  • Fehr, Dietmar

    (WZB - Social Science Research Center Berlin)

Abstract

Among residents of an informal housing area in Cairo, we examine how dictator giving varies by the social distance between subjects – friend versus stranger – and by the anonymity of the dictator. While giving to strangers is high under anonymity, we find – consistent with Leider et al. (2009) – that (i) a decrease in social distance increases giving, (ii) giving to a stranger and to a friend is positively correlated, and (iii) more altruistic dictators increase their giving less under non-anonymity than less altruistic dictators. However, friends are not alike in their altruistic preferences, suggesting that an individual's intrinsic preferences may not necessarily be shaped by his (or her) peers. Instead, reciprocal motives seem important, indicating that social relationships may be valued differently when individuals are financially dependent on them.

Suggested Citation

  • Binzel, Christine & Fehr, Dietmar, 2013. "Giving and Sorting among Friends: Evidence from a Lab-in-the-Field Experiment," IZA Discussion Papers 7516, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
  • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp7516
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

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    2. Natalia Candelo & Catherine Eckel & Cathleen Johnson, 2018. "Social Distance Matters in Dictator Games: Evidence from 11 Mexican Villages," Games, MDPI, vol. 9(4), pages 1-13, October.
    3. Batista, Catia & Silverman, Dan & Yang, Dean, 2015. "Directed giving: Evidence from an inter-household transfer experiment," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 2-21.
    4. d'Exelle, Ben & Riedl, Arno, 2016. "Gender differences and social ties effects in resource sharing," Research Memorandum 023, Maastricht University, Graduate School of Business and Economics (GSBE).
    5. Fabian Winter & Mitesh Kataria, 2020. "You are who your friends are?," Rationality and Society, , vol. 32(2), pages 223-251, May.
    6. Robson, Matthew, 2021. "Inequality aversion, self-interest and social connectedness," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 183(C), pages 744-772.
    7. Brosig-Koch, Jeannette & Heinrich, Timo, 2018. "The role of communication content and reputation in the choice of transaction partners," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 49-66.
    8. Eugen Dimant & Kyle Hyndman, 2019. "Becoming Friends or Foes? How Competitive Environments Shape Social Preferences," Discussion Papers 2019-18, The Centre for Decision Research and Experimental Economics, School of Economics, University of Nottingham.
    9. Ben D'Exelle & Christine Gutekunst & Arno Riedl, 2017. "Gender and bargaining: Evidence from an artefactual field experiment in rural Uganda," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2017-155, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    10. Uri Gneezy & Alex Imas, 2016. "Lab in the Field: Measuring Preferences in the Wild," CESifo Working Paper Series 5953, CESifo.
    11. Ben D’Exelle & Christine Gutekunst & Arno Riedl, 2017. "Gender and bargaining: Experimental evidence from rural Uganda," WIDER Working Paper Series 155, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    12. Lenel, Friederike & Steiner, Susan, 2017. "Insurance and Solidarity: Evidence from a Lab-in-the-Field Experiment in Cambodia," IZA Discussion Papers 10986, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    13. Farai Jena, 2016. "The remittance behaviour of Kenyan sibling migrants," IZA Journal of Migration and Development, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 5(1), pages 1-19, December.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    giving; reciprocity; social distance; networks; sorting;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C93 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Field Experiments
    • D64 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Altruism; Philanthropy; Intergenerational Transfers
    • L14 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Transactional Relationships; Contracts and Reputation
    • O12 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Microeconomic Analyses of Economic Development

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