Why volunteer? Evidence on the role of altruism, image, and incentives

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Carpenter, Jeffrey; Myers, Caitlin Knowles
• 署名单位: Middlebury College
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF PUBLIC ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0047-2727
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jpubeco.2010.07.007
• 发表日期: 2010
• 页码: 911-920
• 关键词: Volunteer; altruism; image; Extrinsic motivation; Firefighter

摘要

We examine motivations for prosocial behavior using new data on volunteer firefighters that contain a dictator game based measure of altruism, surveyed measures of other behavioral factors, and call records that provide an objective measure of time spent volunteering. Controlling for a variety of other explanations, we find that the decision to volunteer is positively correlated with altruism as well as with concern for social reputation or image. Moreover, by utilizing variation in the presence and level of small stipends paid to the firefighters, we find that the positive effect of monetary incentives declines with image concerns, supporting a prediction that extrinsic incentives can crowd out image motivation for prosocial behavior. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.