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Friendship in a Public Good Experiment

Author

Listed:
  • Haan, Marco

    (University of Groningen)

  • Kooreman, Peter

    (Tilburg University)

  • Riemersma, Tineke

    (University of Groningen)

Abstract

We conduct a public good experiment with high school teenagers. Some groups exclusively consist of students that we know to be friends. Other groups exclusively consist of students that we know not to be friends, and that are mere classmates. We find that ‘friends’ contribute more to the public good than ‘classmates’ do. Contributions of ‘classmates’ sharply decrease in the last round, in line with the literature on public good experiments. However, contributions of ‘friends’ sharply increase in the last round.

Suggested Citation

  • Haan, Marco & Kooreman, Peter & Riemersma, Tineke, 2006. "Friendship in a Public Good Experiment," IZA Discussion Papers 2108, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp2108
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    4. Croson, Rachel T. A., 1996. "Partners and strangers revisited," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 53(1), pages 25-32, October.
    5. Andreoni, James & Petrie, Ragan, 2004. "Public goods experiments without confidentiality: a glimpse into fund-raising," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(7-8), pages 1605-1623, July.
    6. Weimann, Joachim, 1994. "Individual behaviour in a free riding experiment," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 54(2), pages 185-200, June.
    7. Rege, Mari & Telle, Kjetil, 2004. "The impact of social approval and framing on cooperation in public good situations," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(7-8), pages 1625-1644, July.
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    Cited by:

    1. Zafar, Basit, 2011. "An experimental investigation of why individuals conform," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 55(6), pages 774-798, August.
    2. Alpízar, F. & Gsottbauer, E., 2015. "Reputation and household recycling practices: Field experiments in Costa Rica," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 120(C), pages 366-375.
    3. Branas-Garza Pablo & María Paz Espinosa, 2006. "Altruism with Social Roots: An Emerging Literature," Revista Desarrollo y Sociedad, Universidad de los Andes,Facultad de Economía, CEDE, September.
    4. Vollan, Björn, 2011. "The difference between kinship and friendship: (Field-) experimental evidence on trust and punishment," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 40(1), pages 14-25, February.
    5. Jia, Y., 2007. "Honesty Is the Best Policy–When There Is Money in It : Can Firms Promote Honest Reporting Behavior by Managers?," Other publications TiSEM 44209465-e74e-4bf5-bb1d-4, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    6. Sascha Fullbrunn & Tibor Neugebauer, 2009. "Anonymity deters collusion in hard-close auctions: experimental evidence," New Zealand Economic Papers, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 43(2), pages 131-148.
    7. David Zetland, 2013. "Water managers are selfish like us," Chapters, in: John A. List & Michael K. Price (ed.), Handbook on Experimental Economics and the Environment, chapter 14, pages 407-433, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    8. Attila Gulyás, 2010. "- Friends?... Fair enough," Proceedings of FIKUSZ '10, in: László Áron Kóczy (ed.),Proceedings of FIKUSZ 2010, pages 72-92, Óbuda University, Keleti Faculty of Business and Management.
    9. Midler, Estelle & Pascual, Unai & Drucker, Adam G. & Narloch, Ulf & Soto, José Luis, 2015. "Unraveling the effects of payments for ecosystem services on motivations for collective action," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 120(C), pages 394-405.
    10. Gulyás, Attila, 2011. "Diktátor a barátom? A barátság és a méltányosság kapcsolata [Is my friend a dictator? The relation between friendship and impartiality]," Közgazdasági Szemle (Economic Review - monthly of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences), Közgazdasági Szemle Alapítvány (Economic Review Foundation), vol. 0(5), pages 430-444.
    11. Jia, Y., 2007. "Honesty Is the Best Policy–When There Is Money in It : Can Firms Promote Honest Reporting Behavior by Managers?," Discussion Paper 2007-28, Tilburg University, Center for Economic Research.
    12. Freya Harrison & James Sciberras & Richard James, 2011. "Strength of Social Tie Predicts Cooperative Investment in a Human Social Network," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 6(3), pages 1-7, March.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    experimental economics; public goods; friendship;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C91 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Laboratory, Individual Behavior
    • C92 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Laboratory, Group Behavior
    • H41 - Public Economics - - Publicly Provided Goods - - - Public Goods

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