Doctoral Dissertation Research in Economics: Field Experiments on Public Goods Provision

University Of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia PA

Investigators

Abstract

Why individuals make charitable contributions, voluntarily provide public goods and cooperate in social dilemmas is an important question in modern society. Extensive research on public goods provision has been conducted by economists, psychologists, sociologists, and political scientists . Previous research has primarily looked at these questions with empirical (historical) data and with laboratory experiments. This project will use field experiments to demonstrate the impact of social comparisons on charitable giving. Anecdotal evidence suggests that individuals donating to charity care deeply about what others are contributing. This concern for what others contribute may be due to social comparisons. This research also combines experimental results with empirical (historical) data and survey data to achieve a complete picture of what makes individuals contribute. The field experiments will use data from the public radio industry and from a religious group. They involve manipulating the social comparison information that individuals receive and examining the impact of that information on different individuals (e.g. new versus existing donors) and in different settings (e.g. via phone versus via mail). The project is interdisciplinary.it examines the impact of a social psychological factor (social comparisons) on economic behavior (provision of public goods). Thus it makes an important and unique contribution to behavioral and experimental economics by identifying an important and unrecognized factor which impacts behavior in these settings. The project will have multiple broader impacts. A better understanding of the motivations for cooperative behavior can help nonprofits (and society) create social welfare.