Crowdsourcing Digital Public Goods: A Field Experiment on Metadata Contributions

55 Pages Posted: 5 Nov 2024

See all articles by Linfeng Li

Linfeng Li

University of Michigan at Ann Arbor - School of Information

Yan Chen

University of Michigan at Ann Arbor - School of Information

Margaret C. Levenstein

University of Michigan at Ann Arbor - Survey Research Center; The Stephen M. Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan, Business Economics and Public Policy

Lars Vilhuber

Cornell University - Department of Economics; U.S. Census Bureau - Center for Economic Studies

Date Written: November 03, 2024

Abstract

This study explores why people choose to contribute metadata, which is data about data. Using a field experiment conducted with more than 3,000 authors of AEA journal articles, our control message reduces the uncertainty about the future value of metadata, whereas those from the treatment conditions additionally make the private or social benefits of metadata salient. Surprisingly, we find that participants in the control condition provide significantly more metadata compared to those in the treatments. This suggests that simply knowing that metadata will have value is sufficient to motivate people to contribute. Our results also highlight the importance of interface design in online field experiments.

Keywords: metadata, digital public goods, field experiment

JEL Classification: C93, H41

Suggested Citation

Li, Linfeng and Chen, Yan and Levenstein, Margaret C. and Vilhuber, Lars, Crowdsourcing Digital Public Goods: A Field Experiment on Metadata Contributions
(November 03, 2024). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=5008203 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.5008203

Linfeng Li (Contact Author)

University of Michigan at Ann Arbor - School of Information ( email )

304 West Hall
550 East University
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1092
United States

Yan Chen

University of Michigan at Ann Arbor - School of Information ( email )

304 West Hall
550 East University
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1092
United States

Margaret C. Levenstein

University of Michigan at Ann Arbor - Survey Research Center ( email )

500 S. State Street
Ann Arbor, MI 48109
United States
734-615-9088 (Phone)
734-647-1186 (Fax)

HOME PAGE: http://www-personal.umich.edu/~maggiel

The Stephen M. Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan, Business Economics and Public Policy

Ann Arbor, MI 48109
United States
734-764-8336 (Phone)

Lars Vilhuber

Cornell University - Department of Economics ( email )

Ithaca, NY
United States

U.S. Census Bureau - Center for Economic Studies ( email )

4700 Silver Hill Road
Washington, DC 20233
United States

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