Voluntary Contributions of Time: Time-based incentives in a linear public goods game

Publication date: Available online 14 January 2019Source: Journal of Economic PsychologyAuthor(s): Justine JouxtelAbstractThe present paper reports the findings of a study designed to investigate whether the patterns of contribution elicited in a Voluntary Contribution Mechanism (VCM) replicate the stylized facts reported in the literature when participants’ time, rather than their money, is at stake. In this experiment, participants are all confronted to the same incentive structure. For half of them, the game is materialized using monetary payoffs, as is done in standard VCM studies. For the other half, the returns from the private and public accounts are implemented as reductions in waiting time. Experimental procedures are designed to keep the decision domain, the size of incentives and the degree of confidentiality constant across the two resources. The contribution patterns elicited by both treatments are found to be (i) remarkably similar and (ii) in line with the picture typically drawn in the literature. Group contributions are statistically indistinguishable in terms of average, variability and distribution, in virtually all rounds of the game. While I do report a significant difference in the decay rates of contributions across rounds, seemingly driven by a greater proportion of early free-riders and late full contributors in the Time Treatment, this effect is both small in magnitude and inconsequential in terms of game efficiency. Overall, the stylized facts oft...
Source: Journal of Economic Psychology - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research