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Does Altruism Mitigate Free-riding and Welfare Loss?

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  • Akram Temimi

    (University of Alabama)

Abstract

A warm-glow motivation for charitable giving has recently been explored as a possible solution to the problem of inefficient private provision of public goods. However, the introduction of warm-glow affects both the efficient level of public good provision as well as the equilibrium level. Hence it is not clear whether warm-glow mitigates or exacerbates inefficiency. We revisit Andreoni's (1989) model of impure altruism and formally analyze this question. Cornes and Sandler''s (1986) index of easy riding and a version of Debreu''s (1951) coefficient of resource utilization are used as measures of free-riding and welfare loss.

Suggested Citation

  • Akram Temimi, 2001. "Does Altruism Mitigate Free-riding and Welfare Loss?," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 8(5), pages 1-8.
    • Handle: RePEc:ebl:ecbull:eb-01h00003
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Nizar Allouch, 2013. "A competitive equilibrium for a warm-glow economy," Economic Theory, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 53(1), pages 269-282, May.
    2. Arthur C. Brooks, 2003. "Charitable giving to humanitarian organizations in Spain," Hacienda Pública Española / Review of Public Economics, IEF, vol. 165(2), pages 9-24, June.
    3. Lugo, Haydée, 2011. "An impure public good model with lotteries in large groups," CEPR Discussion Papers 8319, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    altruism;

    JEL classification:

    • H0 - Public Economics - - General
    • D0 - Microeconomics - - General

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