Doctoral Dissertation Research: The Evolution of Charitable Fundraising: Theory and Experiments

摘要SBR-9905027慈善募捐机构在私人提供公共产品的需求侧发挥着重要作用。募捐者不仅是捐赠者资金的渠道，而且通过公开宣布捐款，也为捐赠者提供了重要的“社会商品”，如声望、自豪感和社会比较。这些社会产品超越了纯粹的捐赠热情，知道这一点的筹款人可以战略性地利用这种对社会产品的偏好来增加捐款。事实上，如果宣布自己的贡献可以增加其他人的贡献，那么就会产生一种外部性，这让纯粹和不纯粹的利他主义者都渴望建立一个宣布礼物和生产社会商品的机构。本研究采用理论和实验相结合的方法对筹资问题进行了研究。通过改变在标准公共产品实验中宣布捐款的方式，可以在实验室中探索这些社会效应。第一组实验将试图确定这些社会产品的性质，以及筹款机构可能如何操纵这些产品来增加捐款。第二套方案将通过允许慈善机构提供不同的社会产品来引入竞争。这个项目将提供关于人们更喜欢哪些社会产品、哪些慈善机构幸存下来以及捐款水平如何受到影响的见解。这项研究将为了解慈善市场的需求和供应方的持续研究议程提供基础。

AbstractSBR-9905027 Charitable fund-raising institutions play an important role on the demand-side of the private provision of public goods. Not only do fund-raisers serve as a conduit for donor money, but they also provide important "social goods," such as prestige, pride, and social comparison, to donors by publicly announcing contributions. These social goods extend beyond the pure warm-glow of donation, and fund-raisers, knowing this, can strategically use this preference for social goods to increase contributions. Indeed, if having one's own contribution announced can increase the contributions of others, then there is an externality generated that makes both pure and impure altruists desire an institution that announces gifts and produces social goods. This study examines fund raising using theory and experiments. By varying the way contributions are announced in standard public goods experiments, these social effects can be explored in the laboratory. The first set of experiments will try to establish what the nature of these social goods are and how fund-raising institutions might manipulate these to increase contributions. The second set will introduce competition among charities by allowing them to offer different social goods. This project will provide insights into which social goods people prefer, which charities survive, and how contribution levels are affected. This research will provide a foundation for a continued research agenda of understanding the demand and supply sides of the charity market.