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Incentives and Prosocial Behavior

Author Info

Listed author(s):
  • Roland Bénabou
  • Jean Tirole

Abstract

We develop a theory of prosocial behavior that combines heterogeneity in individual altruism and greed with concerns for social reputation or self-respect. Rewards or punishments (whether material or image-related) create doubt about the true motive for which good deeds are performed and this "overjustification effect" can induce a partial or even net crowding out of prosocial behavior by extrinsic incentives. We also identify settings that are conducive to multiple social norms and those where disclosing one's generosity may backfire. Finally, we analyze the choice by public and private sponsors of incentive levels, their degree of confidentiality and the publicity given to agents' behavior. Sponsor competition is shown to potentially reduce social welfare.

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File URL: http://www.nber.org/papers/w11535.pdf
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Paper provided by National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc in its series NBER Working Papers with number 11535.

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Length:
Date of creation: Aug 2005
Publication status: published as Roland Bénabou & Jean Tirole, 2006. "Incentives and Prosocial Behavior," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 96(5), pages 1652-1678, December.
Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:11535
Note: PE
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Find related papers by JEL classification:
  • D64 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Altruism; Philanthropy; Intergenerational Transfers
  • D82 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Asymmetric and Private Information; Mechanism Design
  • H41 - Public Economics - - Publicly Provided Goods - - - Public Goods
  • Z13 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Economic Sociology; Economic Anthropology; Social and Economic Stratification

References listed on IDEAS
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Blog mentions

As found by EconAcademics.org, the blog aggregator for Economics research:
  1. Caution when applying impact evaluation lessons across contexts: the case of financial incentives for health workers
    by Jed Friedman in Development Impact on 2013-04-10 18:25:54
  2. One Nation: some scepticism
    by chris dillow in Stumbling and Mumbling on 2012-10-03 12:13:20
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