Exploring the origins of charitable acts: Evidence from an artefactual field experiment with young children

John List and Anya C. Samak
Authors registered in the RePEc Author Service: Anya Savikhin Samek

Economics Letters, 2013, vol. 118, issue 3, 431-434

Abstract: An active area of research within economics concerns the underpinnings of why people give to charitable causes. This study takes a new approach to this question by exploring motivations for giving among children aged 3–5. Using data gathered from 122 children, our artefactual field experiment naturally permits us to disentangle pure altruism and warm glow motivators for giving. We find evidence for the existence of pure altruism but not warm glow. Our results suggest pure altruism is a fundamental component of our preferences, and highlight that warm glow preferences found amongst adults likely develop over time. One speculative hypothesis is that warm glow preferences are learned through socialization.

Keywords: Altruism; Warm glow; Preference development (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C93 D03 D64 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2013
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (27)

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Working Paper: Exploring the Origins of Charitable Acts: Evidence from an Artefactual Field Experiment with Young Children (2012)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:ecolet:v:118:y:2013:i:3:p:431-434

DOI: 10.1016/j.econlet.2012.11.014

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