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Charitable Dictators? Determinants of Giving to NGOs in Uganda

Author

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  • Kim Lehrer

    (Département d'Économique, Université de Sherbrooke)

  • Catherine Porter

    (Department of Accountancy, Economics and Finance, Heriot-Watt University)

Abstract

We play a modified dictator game in Uganda with students, civil servants, and individ- uals from the private sector. The sample includes both Ugandans and expatriates. In the dictator game, participants divide a sum of (real) money between themselves and a local charity. In a "turning a blind eye" treatment, participants are rst given the choice of knowing the identity of the recipient. Finally, participants are asked whether they wish to add their own money to the amount of the endowment they chose to allocate to their selected charity. Contrary to many experimental findings, non-students (civil servants) are not significantly more generous than students. In fact, after controlling for demographic characteristics, their average donation is significantly lower than that of students. Very few individuals donate their own money, despite 30% of participants donating the full endowment. Attitudes to charities do not predict the amount donated in the expected way. Length: 36 pages

Suggested Citation

  • Kim Lehrer & Catherine Porter, 2015. "Charitable Dictators? Determinants of Giving to NGOs in Uganda," Cahiers de recherche 15-07, Departement d'économique de l'École de gestion à l'Université de Sherbrooke.
    • Handle: RePEc:shr:wpaper:15-07
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Dictator game; charitable giving; philanthropy; Uganda;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C72 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Game Theory and Bargaining Theory - - - Noncooperative Games
    • D63 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Equity, Justice, Inequality, and Other Normative Criteria and Measurement
    • D64 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Altruism; Philanthropy; Intergenerational Transfers

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