Heterogeneity and the Voluntary Provision of Public Goods

Kenneth Chan, Stuart Mestelman, Rob Moir and Andrew Muller

Department of Economics Working Papers from McMaster University

Abstract: We investigate the effects of heterogeneity, incomplete information and communication on aggregate contributions to a public good using the voluntary contribution mechanism in a nonlinear laboratory environment. One-dimensional heterogeneity (heterogeneity in income or preferences) and two-dimensional heterogeneity (heterogeneity in income and preferences) both increase voluntary contributions. The effect is greatest when information is incomplete in the sense that subjects do not know each other’s payoffs. Incomplete information also reduces contributions in the homogeneous case. Communication reverses the relative importance of oneand two-dimensional heterogeneity in promoting cooperation.

Pages: 31 pages
Date: 1998-04
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cbe and nep-pub
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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http://socserv.mcmaster.ca/econ/rsrch/papers/archive/McMasterEconWP1998-04.pdf

Related works:
Journal Article: Heterogeneity and the Voluntary Provision of Public Goods (1999)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:mcm:deptwp:1998-04

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