Does Public Policy Crowd Out Private Contributions to Public Goods?
Authors:
Nyborg, K. and M. Rege
Year:
2003
Reference:
115 (3): 397-418Summary
It is sometimes claimed that individuals’ contributions to public goods are not motivated by economic costs and benefits alone, but that people also have a moral or norm-based motivation. A number of studies indicate that such moral or norm-based motivation might be crowded out, or crowded in, by public policy. This paper discusses some models that can yield insight into the interplay between economic and moral or norm-based motivation for voluntary contributions to public goods, and compares their policy implications. We distinguish between five types of models: Altruism models, social norm models, fairness models, models of commitment and the cognitive evaluation theory.
JEL:
D11, H41, Q28
Keywords:
Private provision, altruism, social norms, commitment
Project:
Oppdragsgiver:Oppdragsgivers prosjektnr.:
Frisch prosjekt:
Contact:
karine.nyborg@frisch.uio.no