Does competition affect giving?
Charities often devise fund-raising strategies that exploit natural human competitiveness in combination with the desire for public recognition. We explore whether institutions promoting competition can affect altruistic giving - even when possibilities for public acclaim are minimal. In a controlled laboratory experiment based on a sequential "dictator game" , we find that subjects tend to give more when placed in a generosity tournament, and tend to give less when placed in an earnings tournament - even if there is no award whatsoever for winning the tournament. Further we find that subjects' experimental behavior correlates with their responses to a post-experiment questionnaire, particularly questions addressing altruistic and rivalrous behavior. Based on this evidence, we argue that behavior in our experiment is driven, in part, by innate competitive motives.
Year of publication: |
2010
|
---|---|
Authors: | Duffy, John ; Kornienko, Tatiana |
Published in: |
Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization. - Elsevier, ISSN 0167-2681. - Vol. 74.2010, 1-2, p. 82-103
|
Publisher: |
Elsevier |
Keywords: | Dictator game Charitable giving Competitive altruism Relative standing Tournaments Factor analysis |
Saved in:
Online Resource
Saved in favorites
Similar items by person
-
Does competition affect giving?
Duffy, John, (2010)
-
Does Competition Affect Giving? An Experimental Study
Duffy, John, (2016)
-
Lone wolf or herd animal? : Information choice and learning from others
Duffy, John, (2021)
- More ...