The 1/d Law of Giving
- (pp. 183-203)
Abstract
We combine survey data on friendship networks and individual characteristics with experimental observations from dictator games. Dictator offers are primarily explained by social distance, giving follows a simple inverse distance law. While student demographics play a minor role in explaining offer amounts, individual heterogeneity is important for network formation. In particular, we detect significant homophilous behavior; students connect to others similar to themselves. Moreover, the network data reveal a strong preference for cliques, students connect to those already close. The study is one of the first to identify network architecture with individual behavior in a strategic context. (JEL D44, H82)Citation
Goeree, Jacob K., Margaret A. McConnell, Tiffany Mitchell, Tracey Tromp, and Leeat Yariv. 2010. "The 1/d Law of Giving." American Economic Journal: Microeconomics, 2 (1): 183-203. DOI: 10.1257/mic.2.1.183Additional Materials
JEL Classification
- D44 Auctions
- H82 Governmental Property
There are no comments for this article.
Login to Comment