TY  - JOUR
AU  - Landry,Craig E.
AU  - Lange,Andreas
AU  - List,John A.
AU  - Price,Michael K.
AU  - Rupp,Nicholas G.
TI  - Is a Donor in Hand Better than Two in the Bush? Evidence from a Natural Field Experiment
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 14319
PY  - 2008
Y2  - September 2008
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w14319
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w14319.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
Craig Landry
East Carolina University
E-Mail: landryc@ecu.edu

Andreas Lange
University of Hamburg
Department of Economics
Von Melle Park 5
20146 Hamburg
Germany
Tel: +49-40-42838-4035
Fax: +49-40-42838-3243
E-Mail: andreas.lange@wiso.uni-hamburg.de

John List
Department of Economics
University of Chicago
1126 East 59th
Chicago, IL 60637
Tel: 301/405-1288
Fax: 301/314-9091
E-Mail: jlist@uchicago.edu

Michael Price
Department of Economics
Andrew Young School of Policy Studies
Georgia State University
P.O. Box 3992
Atlanta, GA 30302-3992
Fax: 404-413-0141
E-Mail: mprice25@gsu.edu

Nicholas G. Rupp
East Carolina University
E-Mail: ruppn@ecu.edu
AB  - This study develops theory and conducts an experiment to provide an understanding of why people initially give to charities, why they remain committed to the cause, and what factors attenuate these influences. Using an experimental design that links donations across distinct treatments separated in time, we present several insights. For example, we find that previous donors are more likely to give, and contribute more, than donors asked to contribute for the first time. Yet, how these previous donors were acquired is critical: agents who are initially attracted by signals of charitable quality transmitted via an economic mechanism are much more likely to continue giving than agents who were initially attracted by non-mechanism factors.
ER  -