Comment on 'Giving According to GARP: An Experimental Test of the Consistency of Preferences for Altruism'

5 Pages Posted: 18 Feb 2021

See all articles by Philip Grech

Philip Grech

ETH Zürich

Jessica Halten

Yale School of Management

Sven Hoeppner

Ghent University

Heinrich H. Nax

ETH Zürich; University of Zurich

Date Written: July 4, 2020

Abstract

We present clean experimental evidence that a methodological confound was introduced by Andreoni and Miller (2002) that leads to diametrically opposed conclusions regarding comparisons of preferences between categories of fellow human beings distinguished by gender or age. Our study is a warning not to run the Andreoni-Miller tests of the consistency of altruistic preferences on the basis of their ‘interactive’ experimental protocol, and in particular not to perform preference estimations with the purpose of said comparisons. It is more interpretable and controllable to run the traditional, standard dictator game.

Keywords: Confound, Dictator Game, Protocol, Reproduction Plus

JEL Classification: C90

Suggested Citation

Grech, Philip and Halten, Jessica and Hoeppner, Sven and Nax, Heinrich H., Comment on 'Giving According to GARP: An Experimental Test of the Consistency of Preferences for Altruism' (July 4, 2020). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3766723 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3766723

Philip Grech

ETH Zürich ( email )

Weinbergstrasse 56/58
WEV K513
Zurich, 8092
Switzerland

Jessica Halten

Yale School of Management ( email )

165 Whitney Ave
New Haven, CT 06511

Sven Hoeppner

Ghent University ( email )

Coupure Links 653
Ghent, 9000
Belgium

Heinrich H. Nax (Contact Author)

ETH Zürich ( email )

Rämistrasse 101
ZUE F7
Zürich, 8092
Switzerland

University of Zurich ( email )

Rämistrasse 71
Zürich, CH-8006
Switzerland

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