Dictator choice and causal attribution of recipient endowment

In a laboratory experiment, two dictators give serially to a common recipient. In all treatment conditions, the second dictator knows the outcome in the first game. We vary the nature of the dictator in the first game across different treatments. We ask if the resulting variation in the attribution of intent to the prior causal dictator affects giving in the second game. We find that causal attribution has no effect on average giving, but may impact marginal giving. In particular, giving in the second game is negatively correlated with that in the first only when the first dictator has self-interest. We further find that giving is not affected by knowledge of recipient endowment and falls over the sequence of games.