The effect of charitable giving on workers’ performance: Experimental evidence

Abstract

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We investigate how donating worker earnings for voluntary extra work, a form of corporate social responsibility, affects worker behavior. Participants entered data for 60 minutes, with piece-rate pay. They could then stay for up to another 30 minutes; we varied the piece-rate pay and whether it was paid to the worker or to charity. When this piece-rate is high, workers produce more for own pay than when their earnings go to charity. However, with low piece-rates, this relationship reverses. There is also little difference in performance between paying workers a small amount and not paying anything at all.