Giving begets giving: Positive path dependence as moral consistency

Heger, SA; Slonim, R

Giving begets giving: Positive path dependence as moral consistency

Heger, SA Slonim, R

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Publisher:: Elsevier BV
Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, 2022, 204, pp. 699-718
Issue Date:: 2022-12-01

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Heger, SA
dc.contributor.author	Slonim, R
dc.date.accessioned	2023-01-05T00:42:54Z
dc.date.available	2023-01-05T00:42:54Z
dc.date.issued	2022-12-01
dc.identifier.citation	Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, 2022, 204, pp. 699-718
dc.identifier.issn	0167-2681
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/164711
dc.description.abstract	We design an experiment to ask whether morally-motivated behavior, e.g., charitable giving, is history-dependent. Using a popular policy nudge, the default option, we exogenously vary altruistic behavior “now” and show that charitable giving “now” causes a 66%- 200% increase in the probability of giving “later”; that is, giving begets giving. We further show that, consistent with psychological theory, the choice to behave altruistically “now”, rather than the nudge itself, is the crucial element in the causal relationship. These findings are consistent with a model of positive path-dependence, which we interpret as moral consistency.
dc.language	en
dc.publisher	Elsevier BV
dc.relation	http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/DP150101307
dc.relation.ispartof	Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.1016/j.jebo.2022.10.044
dc.rights	info:eu-repo/semantics/closedAccess
dc.subject	1401 Economic Theory, 1402 Applied Economics, 1403 Econometrics
dc.subject.classification	Economics
dc.title	Giving begets giving: Positive path dependence as moral consistency
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.citation.volume	204
utslib.for	1401 Economic Theory
utslib.for	1402 Applied Economics
utslib.for	1403 Econometrics
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Business
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Business/Economics Discipline
utslib.copyright.status	closed_access	*
dc.date.updated	2023-01-05T00:42:40Z
pubs.publication-status	Published
pubs.volume	204

Abstract:

We design an experiment to ask whether morally-motivated behavior, e.g., charitable giving, is history-dependent. Using a popular policy nudge, the default option, we exogenously vary altruistic behavior “now” and show that charitable giving “now” causes a 66%- 200% increase in the probability of giving “later”; that is, giving begets giving. We further show that, consistent with psychological theory, the choice to behave altruistically “now”, rather than the nudge itself, is the crucial element in the causal relationship. These findings are consistent with a model of positive path-dependence, which we interpret as moral consistency.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/164711