The role of beliefs, trust, and risk in contributions to a public good

Kocher, Martin G., Martinsson, Peter, Matzat, Dominik and Wollbrant, Conny (January 2011): The role of beliefs, trust, and risk in contributions to a public good. Working Papers in Economics - University of Gothenburg, 482

Abstract

This paper experimentally investigates the role of beliefs, trust, and risk in shaping cooperative behavior. By applying incentivized elicitation methods to measure these concepts, we find that beliefs about others’ behavior and trust are positively associated with cooperation in a public goods game. However, even though contributing unconditionally to a public good resembles a situation of making decisions under risk, elicited risk preferences do not seem to explain cooperation in a systematic way.

• Item Type: Paper
• Faculties: Economics; Economics > Chairs > Chair of Empirical Economics
• Subjects: 300 Social sciences > 330 Economics
• JEL Classification: C91, D03, D64
• Language: English