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The effect of charitable giving on workers’ performance: Experimental evidence

Author

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  • Charness, Gary
  • Cobo-Reyes, Ramón
  • Sánchez, Ángela
Abstract
We investigate how donating worker earnings for voluntary extra work, a form of corporate social responsibility, affects worker behavior. Participants entered data for 60minutes, with piece-rate pay. They could then stay for up to another 30minutes; we varied the piece-rate pay and whether it was paid to the worker or to charity. When this piece-rate is high, workers produce more for own pay than when their earnings go to charity. However, with low piece-rates, this relationship reverses. There is also little difference in performance between paying workers a small amount and not paying anything at all.

Suggested Citation

  • Charness, Gary & Cobo-Reyes, Ramón & Sánchez, Ángela, 2016. "The effect of charitable giving on workers’ performance: Experimental evidence," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 131(PA), pages 61-74.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jeborg:v:131:y:2016:i:pa:p:61-74
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jebo.2016.08.009
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Charity; Productivity; CSR policy; Effective incentive;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C91 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Laboratory, Individual Behavior
    • D29 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Other
    • H40 - Public Economics - - Publicly Provided Goods - - - General
    • J30 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - General

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