Ambiguity and excuse-driven behavior in charitable giving

Thomas Garcia, Sébastien Massoni and Marie Claire Villeval

No 1826, Working Papers from Groupe d'Analyse et de Théorie Economique Lyon St-Étienne (GATE Lyon St-Étienne), Université de Lyon

Abstract: A donation may have ambiguous costs or ambiguous benefits. In a laboratory experiment, we show that individuals use this ambiguity strategically as a moral wiggle room to behave less generously without feeling guilty. Such excuse-driven behavior is more pronounced when the costs of a donation -rather than its benefits- are ambiguous. However, the importance of excuse-driven behavior is comparable under ambiguity and under risk. Individuals exploit any type of uncertainty as an excuse not to give, regardless of the nature of this uncertainty.

Keywords: Ambiguity; excuse-driven behavior; charitable giving; social preferences; experiment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C91 D64 D81 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cbe, nep-exp and nep-upt
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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ftp://ftp.gate.cnrs.fr/RePEc/2018/1826.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
Journal Article: Ambiguity and excuse-driven behavior in charitable giving (2020)
Working Paper: Ambiguity and excuse-driven behavior in charitable giving (2020)
Working Paper: Ambiguity and Excuse-Driven Behavior in Charitable Giving (2019)
Working Paper: Ambiguity and excuse-driven behavior in charitable giving (2018)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gat:wpaper:1826

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