Attanasi, Giuseppe Marco, Dessi, Roberta, Moisan, Frédéric and Robertson, Donald (2017) Public goods and future audiences. TSE Working Paper, n. 17-860, Toulouse

[thumbnail of wp_tse_860.pdf]
Preview
Text
Download (618kB) | Preview

Abstract

Individuals’ decisions to behave prosocially (or the contrary) can often be observed by other individuals, with no direct connection to them, but who may nevertheless be influenced by them (e.g. through social media). Does knowing that they may be viewed as role models by other, notably younger, people affect the way individuals behave? Does it make them more likely to behave prosocially? We study how participants’ behavior in an experimental public good game is affected when they know that information about their choices and outcomes, together with different sets of information about their identity, will be transmitted the following year to a set of new, unknown, first-year students at the same university. When subjects know their photo, choices and outcomes will be transmitted, they contribute significantly less. We consider different possible explanations, and argue that the most convincing is based on social image concerns. In this view, subjects in the photo treatment care about being perceived as smart and successful by future younger students.

Item Type: Monograph (Working Paper)
Language: English
Date: November 2017
Place of Publication: Toulouse
Uncontrolled Keywords: Intergenerational transmission, role models, identity, audience
JEL Classification: C91 - Laboratory, Individual Behavior
C92 - Laboratory, Group Behavior
H41 - Public Goods
Subjects: B- ECONOMIE ET FINANCE
Divisions: TSE-R (Toulouse)
Institution: Université Toulouse Capitole
Site: UT1
Date Deposited: 17 Apr 2018 07:53
Last Modified: 22 Jan 2024 10:07
OAI Identifier: oai:tse-fr.eu:32185
URI: https://publications.ut-capitole.fr/id/eprint/25746
View Item

Downloads

Downloads per month over past year