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ID: 149759

Be a good samaritan to a good samaritan: field evidence of other-regarding preferences in China / Chang, Simon ; Dee, Thomas S; Tse, Chun Wing ; Yu, Li

Tse, Chun Wing	Journal Article
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Summary/Abstract

We conducted a large-scale lost letter experiment in Beijing, a megacity with > 21 million residents, to test if the observed altruistic attribute of the letter recipient would induce more passersby to return the lost letters. The treatment letters were addressed to a nationally renowned charitable organization in China, while the control letters were intended to an invented individual. A total of 832 ready-to-be-posted letters were distributed in 208 communities across eight districts in the city. The overall return rate was 13%. Yet, the return rate of the treatment letters (17%) was nearly twice as high as that of the control letters (9%). The finding adds large-scale field experiment evidence in support of the other-regarding preferences theory. In addition, we also found that the lost letters were more likely to be returned if they were dropped in communities with a relatively higher income or a postal box located closer.

Key Words

China ; Altruism ; Other-Regarding Preferences ; Lost Letter Technique

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ID: 149775

With or without siblings: : sorting into competition in the experimental labor market / Yang, Fanzheng; Yu, Li

Yu, Li	Journal Article
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Summary/Abstract

We employ a well-controlled laboratory experiment to examine whether only children and those with siblings differ in their willingness to compete. We find that only children are more likely to undervalue the chance of winning and shy away from competition, but they become to embrace competition as their self-assessed winning probability increases. Alternatively, once uncertainty of relative performance is removed, the gap in willingness to compete between the two groups disappears. Utilizing a two-stage model of decision weights under uncertainty, we find that such a gap is predominantly caused by their heterogeneous attitudes toward ambiguity.

Key Words

Competition ; Ambiguity ; Only Child ; Subjective Probability ; Probability Weighting Function

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