Giving behavior of millionaires.
This paper studies conditions influencing the generosity of wealthy people. We conduct incentivized experiments with individuals who have at least €1 million in their bank account. The results show that millionaires are more generous toward low-income individuals in a giving situation when the other participant has no power, than in a strategic setting, where the other participant can punish unfair behavior. Moreover, the level of giving by millionaires is higher than in any other previous study. Our findings have important implications for charities and financial institutions that deal with wealthy individuals.
Department of Finance and European Centre for Corporate Engagement (ECCE), School of Business and Economics, Maastricht University, 6211 LM, Maastricht, The Netherlands; pm.smeets@maastrichtuniversity.nl.
Paul
P
Smeets
Department of Finance and European Centre for Corporate Engagement (ECCE), School of Business and Economics, Maastricht University, 6211 LM, Maastricht, The Netherlands;
Rob
R
Bauer
Rady School of Management, University of California, San Diego, CA 92093; Center for Research in Experimental Economics and Political Decision-Making, University of Amsterdam, 1018 WB, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Uri
U
Gneezy
D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000533:Altruism; D001290:Attitude; D003657:Decision Making; D005260:Female; D005717:Games, Experimental; D006801:Humans; D007182:Income; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009042:Motivation; D009426:Netherlands; D011203:Poverty; D011897:Random Allocation; D012923:Social Class
dictator game; donations; experimental economics; philanthropy; ultimatum game