Are People Willing to Pay to Reduce Others' Incomes?

Daniel Zizzo and Andrew Oswald

The Warwick Economics Research Paper Series (TWERPS) from University of Warwick, Department of Economics

Abstract: This paper studies utility interdependence in the laboratory. We design an experiment where subjects can reduce ("burn") other subjects' money. Those who burn the money of others have to give up some of their own cash. Despite this cost, and contrary to the assumptions of economics textbooks, the majority of our subjects choose to destroy at least part of others' money holdings. We vary experimentally the amount that subjects have to pay to reduce other people's cash. The implied price elasticity of burning is calculated; it is mostly less than unity. There is a strong correlation between wealth, or rank, and the amounts by which subjects are burnt.

Keywords: INCOME; MONEY; PRICES (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C72 C91 D31 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 38 pages
Date: 2000
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (33)

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https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/economics/research/workingpapers/2008/twerp568.pdf

Related works:
Journal Article: Are People Willing to Pay to Reduce Others'Incomes? (2001)
Working Paper: Are People Willing to Pay to Reduce Others’ Incomes? (2000)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:wrk:warwec:568

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