Generosity across contexts

Alexander L. Davis, Nadja R. Jehli, John H. Miller and Roberto Weber

No 50, ECON - Working Papers from Department of Economics - University of Zurich

Abstract: Extensive research in economics explores generosity in monetary allocations. However, generosity often involves the allocation of non-monetary goods or experiences. Existing evidence suggests that generosity may be higher in such contexts, though no direct comparison exists. Here, we compare generosity in decisions that vary whether allocations are monetary or non-monetary. In two experiments, generosity is significantly higher in non-monetary contexts. Thus, the typical monetary laboratory dictator game may underestimate generosity in many non-laboratory contexts where allocations are non-monetary. We find weaker relationships between individuals’ allocation decisions across monetary and non-monetary contexts than for allocations that hold constant the monetary nature of the context.

Keywords: Altruism; generosity; non-monetary; harm; experiment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C91 D03 D64 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2011-11, Revised 2015-03
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cbe, nep-evo and nep-exp
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (9)

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Working Paper: Generosity Across Contexts (2015)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:zur:econwp:050

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