【主讲】潘晓菲 (Harvard University)
【主题】Hidden cost of giving
【时间】2013年6月19日 (周三) 15：30-17：00
【地点】上海财经大学经济学院楼701室
【语言】英文
【摘要】Receiving a gift can create an impulse to reciprocate, even when doing so is inefficient and potentially harmful to a third party. Behavior in response to bribes is such an example. This paper investigates how the gift giver's intentions impact a beneficiary's desire to reciprocate the gift. We report data from a laboratory experiment showing that, when multiple givers attempt to offer gifts to a beneficiary, the intention of giving is not sufficient to trigger reciprocity. Beneficiaries show strong favoritism towards one who was able to give, even when doing so is at the expense of those who attempted to give but were unable to do so. We further find that favoritism towards gift givers does not depend on whether giving is motivated by expected future returns. Our results suggest that further policies that aim to mitigate the ties between the donor and beneficiary are in need to prevent the social welfare loss.
