The Impact of Endowment Heterogeneity and Origin on Public Good Contributions: Evidence From the Lab

ASU Author/Contributor (non-ASU co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)
Todd Cherry Ph.D., Professor (Creator)
Institution
Appalachian State University (ASU )
Web Site: https://library.appstate.edu/

Abstract: Recent experimental research suggests that unpredicted behavior in the lab may result from endowment distribution and origin. We design an experiment to explore the impact of heterogeneous endowments and earned endowments on observed contributions in a linear public good game. Our results suggest that contribution levels were significantly lower when groups had heterogeneous rather than homogeneous endowments, with this finding being independent of the origin of endowment. We did not find, however, that the lack of free-riding in public goods experiments was an artifact of endowment origin. Group members contributed about the same to the public good whether their endowments were earned or not.

Additional Information

Publication
Todd L. Cherry, Stephan Kroll, & Jason F. Shogren (2005) "The Impact of Endowment Heterogeneity and Origin on Public Good Contributions: Evidence From the Lab" Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization Volume 57 Issue 3 pp.357-365 [DOI:10.1016/j.jebo.2003.11.010] Version of Record Available From (www.researchgate.net)
Language: English
Date: 2005
Keywords
other-regarding Behavior, property Rights, House money, fairness, Games, preferences, reciprocity

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