Defaults and Donations: Evidence from a Field Experiment

Steffen Altmann, Armin Falk, Paul Heidhues (), Rajshri Jayaraman and Marrit Teirlinck
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Rajshri Jayaraman: ESMT Berlin and University of Toronto
Marrit Teirlinck: ESMT Berlin and Humboldt University

The Review of Economics and Statistics, 2019, vol. 101, issue 5, 808-826

Abstract: We study the effects of defaults on charitable giving in a large-scale field experiment on an online fundraising platform. We exogenously vary default options along two choice dimensions: the charitable donation decision and the “co-donation” decision regarding how much to contribute to supporting the platform. We document a strong effect of defaults on individual behavior but nevertheless find that aggregate donation levels are unaffected by defaults. In contrast, co-donations increase in the default amount. We complement our experimental results with a structural model that investigates whether personalizing defaults based on individuals' donation histories can increase donation revenues.

Date: 2019
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Related works:
Working Paper: Defaults and donations: Evidence from a field experiment (2018)
Working Paper: Defaults and Donations: Evidence from a Field Experiment (2015)
Working Paper: Defaults and Donations: Evidence from a Field Experiment (2015)
Working Paper: Defaults and Donations: Evidence from a Field Experiment (2014)
Working Paper: Defaults and Donations: Evidence from a Field Experiment (2014)
Working Paper: Defaults and Donations: Evidence from a Field Experiment (2014)
Working Paper: Defaults and Donations: Evidence from a Field Experiment (2014)
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