Heterogeneous Productivity in Voluntary Public Good Provision: An Experimental Analysis

Gerlinde Fellner-Röhling (gerlinde.fellner@wu.ac.at), Yoshio Iida (iida01@cc.kyoto-su.ac.jp), Sabine Kröger (skroger@ecn.ulaval.ca) and Erika Seki
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Yoshio Iida: Kyoto Sangyo University

No 5556, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: This article experimentally examines voluntary contributions when group members' marginal returns to the public good vary. The experiment implements two marginal return types, low and high, and uses the information that members have about the heterogeneity to identify the applied contribution norm. If agents are aware of the heterogeneity, contributions increase in general. However, high types contribute more than low types when contributions can be linked to the type of the donor but contribute less otherwise. Low types, on the other hand, contribute more than high types when group members are aware of the heterogeneity but contributions cannot be linked to types. Our results underline the importance of the information structure when persons with different abilities contribute to a joint project, as in the context of teamwork or charitable giving.

Keywords: public goods; voluntary contribution mechanism; heterogeneity; information; norms (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C9 H41 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 33 pages
Date: 2011-03
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cbe, nep-exp and nep-pbe
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (19)

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Related works:
Working Paper: Heterogeneous Productivity in Voluntary Public Good Provision: an Experimental Analysis (2010)
Working Paper: Heterogeneous productivity in voluntary public good provision - An experimental analysis (2010)
Working Paper: Heterogeneous productivity in voluntary public good provision - an experimental analysis (2010)
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