scholarly journals Deciding how to decide on public goods provision: The role of instrumental versus intrinsic motives

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 205316802110141
Author(s):  
Philipp Harms ◽  
Claudia Landwehr ◽  
Maximilian Lutz ◽  
Markus Tepe
Keyword(s):  
Public Good ◽  
Intrinsic Value ◽  
Majority Voting ◽  
Public Good Provision ◽  
Experimental Conditions ◽  
The Public ◽  
Second Stage ◽  
Good Provision ◽  
Alternative Decision

What determines citizens’ preferences over alternative decision-making procedures – the personal gain associated with a procedure, or the intrinsic value assigned to it? To answer this question, we present results of a laboratory experiment in which participants select a procedure to decide on the provision of a public good. In the first stage, they choose between majority voting and delegation to a welfare-maximizing algorithm. In the second stage, subjects either vote on the public good provision, or the decision is taken by the algorithm. We define three experimental conditions in which participants receive information about whether a majority in the group faces a positive or negative pay-off from the public good provision, about whether there is a positive group benefit from its provision, or neither kind of information. Findings confirm the importance of instrumental motives in procedural choices. At the same time, however, a significant share of participants chose a procedure that does not maximize their individual benefit. While majority voting seems to be preferred for intrinsic values of fairness and equality, support for delegation to the welfare-maximizing algorithm increases if the group benefit from a public good is known – even in participants who are net payers for its provision.

scholarly journals Social Pressure in Networks Induces Public Good Provision

Games ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 4
Author(s):  
David Jimenez-Gomez
Keyword(s):  
Public Good ◽  
Small Group ◽  
Dynamic Model ◽  
Network Topology ◽  
Social Pressure ◽  
Public Good Provision ◽  
Public Good Game ◽  
The Public ◽  
Best Response ◽  
Good Provision

I develop a dynamic model with forward looking agents, and show that social pressure is effective in generating provision in a public good game: after a small group of agents start contributing to the public good, other agents decide to contribute as well due to a fear of being punished, and this generates contagion in the network. In contrast to earlier models in the literature, contagion happens fast, as part of the best response of fully rational individuals. The network topology has implications for whether contagion starts and the extent to which it spreads. I find conditions under which an agent decides to be the first to contribute in order to generate contagion in the network, as well as conditions for contribution due to a self-fulfilling fear of social pressure.

scholarly journals Competing for Recognition through Public Good Provision

2008 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mattias K Polborn
Keyword(s):  
Public Good ◽  
Open Source Software ◽  
Public Good Provision ◽  
Competition Effect ◽  
Software Projects ◽  
The Public ◽  
Context Recognition ◽  
Private Providers ◽  
Common Interests ◽  
Good Provision

We consider a setting in which several groups of individuals with common interests (``clubs") compete with each other for recognition by other individuals. Depending on the context, recognition may be expressed by these other individuals joining a club, or choosing one club to admire. Clubs compete by providing a public good. Competition between clubs increases the public good provision level, and a sufficiently strong competition effect may even lead to overprovision. The model thus limits the argument for subsidies to the private providers of public goods. We discuss implications of the model for open-source software projects, university fundraising and infrastructure competition between cities.

scholarly journals Does heterogeneity spoil the basket? The role of productivity and feedback information on public good provision

2018 ◽  
Vol 77 ◽  
pp. 40-49 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrej Angelovski ◽  
Daniela Di Cagno ◽  
Werner Güth ◽  
Francesca Marazzi ◽  
Luca Panaccione
Keyword(s):  
Public Good ◽  
Public Good Provision ◽  
Feedback Information ◽  
Good Provision

scholarly journals Heterogeneous groups cooperate in public good problems despite normative disagreements about individual contribution levels

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kasper Otten ◽  
Vincent Buskens ◽  
Wojtek Przepiorka ◽  
Naomi Ellemers
Keyword(s):  
Public Goods ◽  
Public Good ◽  
Individual Contribution ◽  
Public Goods Game ◽  
Homogeneous Groups ◽  
The Public ◽  
Heterogeneous Groups ◽  
Good Provision ◽  
Good Individual

Abstract Norms can promote human cooperation to provide public goods. Yet, the potential of norms to promote cooperation may be limited to homogeneous groups in which all members benefit equally from the public good. Individual heterogeneity in the benefits of public good provision is commonly conjectured to bring about normative disagreements that harm cooperation. However, the role of these normative disagreements remains unclear because they are rarely directly measured or manipulated. In a laboratory experiment, we first measure participants’ views on the appropriate way to contribute to a public good with heterogeneous returns. We then use this information to sort people into groups that either agree or disagree on these views, thereby manipulating group-level disagreement on normative views. Participants subsequently make several incentivized contribution decisions in a public goods game with peer punishment. We find that although there are considerable disagreements about individual contribution levels in heterogeneous groups, these disagreements do not impede cooperation. While cooperation is maintained because low contributors are punished, participants do not use punishment to impose their normative views on others. The contribution levels at which groups cooperate strongly relate to the average normative views of these groups.

Pareto-Improving Redistribution and Pure Public Goods

2000 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 169-186 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Cornes ◽  
Todd Sandler
Keyword(s):  
Public Good ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Policy Intervention ◽  
Public Good Provision ◽  
Large Aggregate ◽  
The Public ◽  
Pure Public Good ◽  
Comparative Static Analysis ◽  
Good Provision ◽  
Pareto Improving

Abstract In the pure public good model, the Nash equilibrium associated with one initial income distribution may Pareto dominate the equilibrium associated with another distribution of the same aggregate income. We explore this possibility and examine its implications for Pareto-improving policy intervention by undertaking a comparative static analysis of Pareto-improving tax-financed increases in pure public good provision. Under some circumstances, a government can engineer policies that raise public good provision while increasing the well-being of contributors and noncontributors. Crucial factors promoting this outcome involve a large number of noncontributors, a high marginal valuation for the public good by non-contributors and a large aggregate response of contributors to changes in their income.

Simultaneous versus sequential public good provision and the role of refunds — An experimental study

2009 ◽  
Vol 93 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 326-335 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer C. Coats ◽  
Timothy J. Gronberg ◽  
Brit Grosskopf
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Study ◽  
Public Good ◽  
Public Good Provision ◽  
Good Provision

State Preferences and the Provision of Public Goods / Staatspräferenzen und die Bereitstellung öffentlicher Güter

2003 ◽  
Vol 223 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Xenia Matschke
Keyword(s):  
Public Goods ◽  
Public Good ◽  
State Parameter ◽  
Public Good Provision ◽  
Relative Importance ◽  
Private Provision ◽  
The Public ◽  
Good Provision ◽  
Parameter Measuring ◽  
State Preferences

SummaryCountries differ substantially in the emphasis on the public sector and the ratio between state consumption and provision of public goods. It seems that these differences are often not well explained by only assuming a heterogeneous population. In this paper, I take differing state preferences as given and investigate how changes in state preferences affect the provision of a public good. The provision of the public good is modelled as a two-stage game with the state and the citizens as players. I find that the Nash equilibrium provision of the public good is independent of a so-called "welfare state" parameter. In contrast, an increase in a parameter measuring the relative importance of public good provision vs. state consumption leads to an increase in the overall public good provision, while private provision declines.

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