Scandinavian Working Papers in Economics

Working Papers in Economics,
University of Gothenburg, Department of Economics

No 542: Do people avoid opportunities to donate? A natural field experiment on recycling and charitable giving

Mikael Knutsson, Peter Martinsson () and Conny Wollbrant ()
Additional contact information
Mikael Knutsson: Dept of Psychology, University of Gothenburg, Postal: P.O.Box , SE 40530 GÖTEBORG, Sweden
Peter Martinsson: Department of Economics, School of Business, Economics and Law, Göteborg University, Postal: P.O.Box 640, SE 40530 GÖTEBORG, Sweden
Conny Wollbrant: Department of Economics, School of Business, Economics and Law, Göteborg University, Postal: P.O.Box 640, SE 405 30 Gothenburg, Sweden

Abstract: We use a natural field experiment to investigate the hypothesis that generosity is partly involuntary, by examining whether individuals tend to avoid opportunities to act generously. In Sweden, new recycling machines for bottles and cans with an option of donating the returned deposit to charity were gradually introduced in one of the largest store chains. We find a substantial decline in recycling the month these new machines were introduced and a further decline in the following months. These results indicate that individuals avoid opportunities to act generously and corroborate findings from both lab and field studies supporting the claim that generous behavior is partly involuntary

Keywords: Generosity; Donations; Natural field experiment; Avoidance behavior

JEL-codes: C93; D01; D03; D64

18 pages, September 25, 2012

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