Incentivizing Organ Donation Through a Non-Monetary Posthumous Award

Abstract

Since 2013, The Order of St John Award for Organ Donation is offered to the families of deceased solid organ donors in the United Kingdom to honor the donors and inspire others to donate. We evaluate the effects of this award using a difference-in-differences approach that builds on the fact that solid organ donors are eligible for the award, while cornea-only donors are not. We find that the introduction of the award led to an increase in the number of deceased solid organ donors, as well as in the general willingness to register as solid organ donors when alive.

Keywords: Organ donation, Incentives for Organ Donation, Posthumous Awards

JEL Classification: I18