Give and Take in Dictator Games

Alexander W. Cappelen, Ulrik Haagen Nielsen, Erik Ø. Sørensen, Bertil Tungodden, Jean-Robert Karl Tyran

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59 Citationer (Scopus)

Abstract

It has been shown that participants in the dictator game are less willing to give money to the other participant when their choice set also includes the option to take money. We examine whether this effect is due to the choice set providing a signal about entitlements in a setting where entitlements initially may be considered unclear. We find that the share of positive transfers depends on the choice set even when there is no uncertainty about entitlements, and that this choice-set effect is robust across a heterogenous group of participants recruited from the general adult population in Denmark. The findings are consistent with dictator giving partly being motivated by a desire to signal that one is not entirely selfish or by a desire to follow a social norm that is choice-set dependent.
OriginalsprogEngelsk
TidsskriftEconomics Letters
Vol/bind118
Udgave nummer2
Sider (fra-til)280–283
Antal sider4
ISSN0165-1765
DOI
StatusUdgivet - feb. 2013

Bibliografisk note

JEL classification: C91; D63

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