Doctoral Dissertation Research in Economics: The Impact of Exogenous and Endogenous Information Acquisition on Giving

慈善组织研究中的一个重要问题是，是什么激励人们做出更多贡献？本研究将采用理论与实验相结合的方法，探讨在筹款阶段提供更多关于拟议公益物品价值的信息是否会鼓励更多的捐赠。研究人员将开发一个理论模型，该模型预测，向不经常捐赠的人提供更多信息会鼓励他们捐赠，而向那些经常捐赠的人提供更多信息会减少他们的捐赠。研究人员将使用新的复杂方法来检验这一理论。早期的测试结果证实了该理论的预测。这个研究项目的结果对慈善机构制定筹款政策很有帮助——与那些本来不会捐款的社区分享更多的信息。研究结果还为政府如何为提供公共产品提供支持提供了指导。该研究项目还通过支持研究生在经济学领域的研究，为美国在经济学研究领域的全球领导地位做出了贡献，从而增加了美国？美国的研究资本。本提案将使用理论和实验方法来调查提供更多关于公共物品价值的信息对自愿合作捐赠的影响。本研究首先建立了一个理论模型来考察提供项目价值信息对预期贡献的影响。该模型预测，群体的慷慨程度对代理人如何响应信息起着重要作用；信息有可能在不太慷慨的人群中增加平均贡献，但在更慷慨的人群中可能减少平均贡献。然后，pi将使用实验室实验来测试该模型以及测量人。美国愿意为这些信息付费。初步实验结果证实了理论预测。该研究项目的结果对慈善机构如何提供有关其活动结果的信息以获得更多捐款具有重要的政策意义。它还就政府如何为提供公共产品和优质产品提供支持提供指导。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

An important question in the study of charitable organizations is what motivate people to contribute more? This proposed research will use theory and experiments to investigate whether providing more information about the value of the proposed public good at the fundraising stage will encourage more donations. The researchers will develop a theoretical model which predicts that providing more information to people who do not generally donate will encourage them to donate, while providing more information to those who normally donate decreases their donations. The researchers will use new and sophisticated methods to test this theory. Early test results confirm the predictions of the theory. The results of this research project are useful for formulating fundraising policies for charities---share more information with communities which would otherwise not donate. The research results also provide guidance on how governments can generate support for providing public goods. The research project also contributes to US global leadership in economics research by supporting graduate student research in economics and thus increases US?s research capital.This proposal will use theoretical and experimental methods to investigate the impact of providing more information about the value of a public good on voluntary cooperative giving. The research first develops a theoretical model to investigate the effects of providing information about the project's value on expected contributions. The model predicts that the generosity level of the population plays an important role in how agents respond to information; information has the potential to increase average contributions in less generous populations but may decrease it in more generous populations. The PIs will then use laboratory experiments to test this model as well as measure people?s willingness to pay for such information. Preliminary experimental results confirm the theoretical predictions. The results of the research project have important policy implications for how charities provide information on the outcomes of their activities to generate more donations. It also provides guidance on how governments may generate support for the provision of public and merit goods.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.