Time-Inconsistent Charitable Giving

64 Pages Posted: 14 Nov 2016 Last revised: 11 Nov 2024

See all articles by James Andreoni

James Andreoni

University of California, San Diego (UCSD)

Marta Serra-Garcia

University of California, San Diego (UCSD) - Rady School of Management

Date Written: November 2016

Abstract

We motivate this paper with a puzzle. When we asked subjects to give five dollars to charity today, about 30 percent agree, but when the donation would instead be paid in one week, giving increases by 50 percent. The puzzle is that received models of self-control cannot explain this time-inconsistent charitable giving. This suggests a new approach is needed for intertemporal pro-sociality. We present one solution to the puzzle in a theoretical model and two new experiments. Our explanation relies on the rich dynamics of warm glow, and specifically image concerns, in prosocial behavior.

Suggested Citation

Andreoni, James and Serra-Garcia, Marta, Time-Inconsistent Charitable Giving (November 2016). NBER Working Paper No. w22824, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2868923

James Andreoni (Contact Author)

University of California, San Diego (UCSD) ( email )

9500 Gilman Drive
La Jolla, CA 92093-0508
United States

HOME PAGE: http://econ.ucsd.edu/~jandreon/

Marta Serra-Garcia

University of California, San Diego (UCSD) - Rady School of Management ( email )

9500 Gilman Drive
Rady School of Management
La Jolla, CA 92093
United States

Do you have a job opening that you would like to promote on SSRN?

Paper statistics

Downloads
119
Abstract Views
671
Rank
482,369
PlumX Metrics