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Charitable giving among females and males: an empirical test of the competitive altruism hypothesis

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  • Robert Böhm
  • Tobias Regner

Abstract

We conduct a real-effort task experiment where subjects’ performance translates into a donation to a charity. In a within-subjects design we vary the visibility of the donation (no/private/public feedback). Confirming previous studies, we find that subjects’ performance increases, that is, they donate more to charity, when their relative performance is made public. In line with the competitive altruism hypothesis, a biology-based explanation for status-seeking behavior, especially male subjects increase performance in the public setting. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media New York 2013

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  • Robert Böhm & Tobias Regner, 2013. "Charitable giving among females and males: an empirical test of the competitive altruism hypothesis," Journal of Bioeconomics, Springer, vol. 15(3), pages 251-267, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jbioec:v:15:y:2013:i:3:p:251-267
    DOI: 10.1007/s10818-013-9152-x
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    4. Kellner, Christian & Reinstein, David & Riener, Gerhard & Sanders, Michael, 2015. "Giving and Probability," Economics Discussion Papers 13794, University of Essex, Department of Economics.
    5. Sri Handayani & Suharnomo Suharnomo & Edy Rahardja, 2022. "Transactional Leadership, Well-Being Support, OCB-Altruism, and Employee Performance: Testing Their Relationship," Review of Applied Socio-Economic Research, Pro Global Science Association, vol. 24(2), pages 70-88, December.
    6. Kellner, Christian & Reinstein, David & Riener, Gerhard, 2015. "Stochastic income and conditional generosity," DICE Discussion Papers 197, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf Institute for Competition Economics (DICE).
    7. Emili Vizuete-Luciano & Oktay Güzel & José M. Merigó, 2023. "Bibliometric research of the Pay-What-You-Want Topic," Journal of Revenue and Pricing Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 22(5), pages 413-426, October.
    8. Hofmann, Elisa & Fiagbenu, Michael E. & Özgümüs, Asri & Tahamtan, Amir M. & Regner, Tobias, 2021. "Who is watching me? Disentangling audience and interpersonal closeness effects in a Pay-What-You-Want context," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 90(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Social preferences; Other-regarding behavior; Charitable giving; Social-image concerns; Competitive altruism; Experiments; Social status; C91; D03; J16;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C91 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Laboratory, Individual Behavior
    • D03 - Microeconomics - - General - - - Behavioral Microeconomics: Underlying Principles
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination

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