Defaults and Donations: Evidence from a Field Experiment
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Defaults and Donations : Evidence from a Field Experiment. / Altmann, Steffen; Falk, Armin; Heidhues, Paul; Jayaraman, Rajshri ; Teirlinck, Marrit.
In: Review of Economics and Statistics, Vol. 101, No. 5, 2019, p. 808-826.Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Defaults and Donations
T2 - Evidence from a Field Experiment
AU - Altmann, Steffen
AU - Falk, Armin
AU - Heidhues, Paul
AU - Jayaraman, Rajshri
AU - Teirlinck, Marrit
PY - 2019
Y1 - 2019
N2 - We study the effects of defaults on charitable giving in a large-scale field experiment on an online fundraising platform. We exogenously vary default options along two choice-dimensions—the charitable donation decision, and the “codonation” decision regarding how much to contribute to supporting the platform. We document a strong effect of defaults on individual behavior but, nevertheless, find that aggregate donation levels are unaffected by defaults. In contrast, codonations increase in the default amount. We complement our experimental results with a structural model that investigates whether personalizing defaults based on individuals’ donation histories can increase donation revenues.
AB - We study the effects of defaults on charitable giving in a large-scale field experiment on an online fundraising platform. We exogenously vary default options along two choice-dimensions—the charitable donation decision, and the “codonation” decision regarding how much to contribute to supporting the platform. We document a strong effect of defaults on individual behavior but, nevertheless, find that aggregate donation levels are unaffected by defaults. In contrast, codonations increase in the default amount. We complement our experimental results with a structural model that investigates whether personalizing defaults based on individuals’ donation histories can increase donation revenues.
KW - Faculty of Social Sciences
KW - Charitable Giving
KW - Default Options
KW - Online Platforms
KW - Field Experiment
U2 - 10.1162/rest_a_00774
DO - 10.1162/rest_a_00774
M3 - Journal article
VL - 101
SP - 808
EP - 826
JO - Review of Economics and Statistics
JF - Review of Economics and Statistics
SN - 0034-6535
IS - 5
ER -
ID: 200667864