Anonymity, reciprocity,and conformity: evidence from voluntary contributions to a national park in Costa Rica

We investigate the role of anonymity, reciprocity, and conformity for voluntary contributions, based on a natural fieldexperiment conducted at a national park in Costa Rica. Contributions made in public in front of the solicitor are 25% higher thancontributions made in private. Giving subjects a small gift before requesting a contribution increases the likelihood of a positivecontribution. At the same time, the conditional contribution decreases. The total effect of giving a gift is positive but small, andtaking the cost of the gift into account, it is far from profitable. When the subjects are told that the typical contribution of others is$2 (a small contribution), the probability of a contribution increases and the conditional contribution decreases, compared withproviding no reference information. Providing a high reference level ($10) increases the conditional contributions. Overall, the totaleffects have the expected signs, although the magnitudes are smaller than what one might have expected based on existing evidencefrom laboratory experiments.

Bibliographic Details

Main Authors:	41805 Alpízar, F., 54213 Carlsson, F., 81294 Johansson Stenman, O., 7512 Environment for Development, Gothenburg (Suecia), 17116 Resources for the Future, Washington, DC (EUA)
Format:	biblioteca
Language:	eng
Published:	Gothenburg, Suecia Elsevier 2008
Subjects:	PARQUES NACIONALES, INVESTIGACION, FINANCIAMIENTO, SUBSIDIOS, EXPERIMENTACION EN CAMPO, COSTA RICA,
Online Access:	https://repositorio.catie.ac.cr/handle/11554/10756
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