Do as You Say, Say as You Do : Evidence on Gender Differences in Actual and Stated Contributions to Public Goods

Recent work on public goods contributions has examined the relationship between gender and free-riding behavior in studies using laboratory public goods. This research furthers this line of inquiry by examining gender as a possible explanation of hypothetical bias, which occurs in valuation studies using real world public goods. Results show that gender differences exist in hypothetical valuation exercises, but not in real valuation exercises. Further, the results show that hypothetical bias is almost three times larger for males than for females, an important result for researchers investigating the source of, and solutions for, hypothetical bias. Keyword(s): Public goods valuation; Gender; Contingent valuation; Experimental economics