Playing with the Good Guys: A Public Good Game with Endogenous Group Formation

Brekke, K.A., K.E. Hauge, J.T. Lind, and K. Nyborg (2011)

Published in:

Journal of Public Economics 95, 1111-1118.

Abstract:

Are some individuals generally more pro-social than others? If so, socially beneficial commitments could serve as a costly screening device helping the pro-social to match. We present a public good game experiment in which subjects choose between two group types: in blue groups, subjects receive a fixed extra payoff; in red groups, this extra payoff is donated, instead, to the Red Cross. A substantial share of our subjects chose red groups. Contributions in red groups were initially higher and stayed high, while contributions in blue groups displayed the well-known declining pattern.

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Published Sep. 6, 2011 1:01 PM - Last modified Dec. 10, 2015 3:46 PM