Social networks and organizational helping behavior: Experimental evidence from the helping game

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Erkut, Hande; Reuben, Ernesto
• 署名单位: New York University; New York University Abu Dhabi
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF PUBLIC ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0047-2727
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jpubeco.2025.105388
• 发表日期: 2025
• 关键词: Helping; ORGANIZATIONS; social ties; social networks; centrality; Social distance; COMMUNICATION

摘要

This paper studies the causal impact of social ties and network structure on helping behavior in organizations. We introduce and experimentally study a game called the 'helping game,' where individuals unilaterally decide whether to incur a cost to help other team members when helping is a rivalrous good. We find that social ties have a strong positive effect on helping behavior. Individuals are more likely to help those with whom they are connected, but the likelihood of helping decreases as the social distance between individuals increases. Additionally, individuals randomly assigned to be more central in the network are more likely to help others.