Investment Behaviour, Risk Sharing and Social Distance

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: D'Exelle, Ben; Verschoor, Arjan
• 署名单位: University of East Anglia
• 刊物名称: ECONOMIC JOURNAL
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0013-0133
• DOI: 10.1111/ecoj.12264
• 发表日期: 2015
• 页码: 777-802
• 关键词: gift exchange; preferences; RECIPROCITY; attitudes; fairness; insurance; farmers; MARKET; trust; INDIA

摘要

Using a lab-in-the-field experiment in Uganda we study how risk sharing influences investment behaviour. Depending on the treatment, an investor may decide to share profits with a paired person, and/or the paired person may compensate the investor for investment losses. Following sharing norms in African societies, predicted investment is higher if loss sharing is possible, and/or profit sharing is not possible. Contrary to these predictions, we find that investment is higher when losses may not be shared or when profits may be shared with friends. A combination of directed altruism and expected reciprocity appears most plausible to explain these results.