Group Identity and Charitable Contributions: Experimental Evidence

Abstract

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We conduct a laboratory experiment in which subjects do a real effort task to generate money with the possibility of donating part, all, or none of that money to a charity. We vary whether the task is done individually or in groups, and whether the donation –which is made privately and individually– is either transferred as a single individual donation or added to the rest of group members’ contributions and thus, transferred as a group donation. Our results indicate that doing the task in groups increases the intensive and extensive margins of charitable giving for both individual and group donations. Results also show that donating as part of a group has an effect on the amount donated only when group identity was previously enhanced.