Defaults and Donations: Evidence from a Field Experiment

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Altmann, Steffen; Falk, Armin; Heidhues, Paul; Jayaraman, Rajshri; Teirlinck, Marrit
• 署名单位: University of Copenhagen; University of Bonn; University of Bonn; European School of Management & Technology; University of Toronto; Humboldt University of Berlin
• 刊物名称: REVIEW OF ECONOMICS AND STATISTICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0034-6535
• DOI: 10.1162/rest_a_00774
• 发表日期: 2019-12
• 页码: 808-826
• 关键词: impact; scale; ask

摘要

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.