Hostname: page-component-7b9c58cd5d-9k27k Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-03-17T02:04:21.621Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The external validity of giving in the dictator game

A field experiment using the misdirected letter technique

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 March 2025

Axel Franzen  and
Sonja Pointner
Axel Franzen*
Affiliation:
Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences, Institute of Sociology, University of Bern, Lerchenweg 36, 3012 Bern, Switzerland
Sonja Pointner
Affiliation:
Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences, Institute of Sociology, University of Bern, Lerchenweg 36, 3012 Bern, Switzerland
*
[email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

We investigate the external validity of giving in the dictator game by using the misdirected letter technique in a within-subject design. First, subjects participated in standard dictator games (double blind) conducted in labs in two different studies. Second, after four to five weeks (study 1) or two years (study 2), we delivered prepared letters to the same subjects. The envelopes and the contents of the letters were designed to create the impression that they were misdirected by the mail delivery service. The letters contained 10 Euros (20 Swiss Francs in study 2) corresponding to the endowment of the in-lab experiments. We observe in both studies that subjects who showed other-regarding behavior in the lab returned the misdirected letters more often than subjects giving nothing, suggesting that in-lab behavior is related to behavior in the field.

Keywords

Other-regarding preferencesFairnessDictator gameBehavioral game theoryExternal validityMisdirected letter techniqueField experiment

JEL classification

D63: Equity, Justice, Inequality, and Other Normative Criteria and Measurement D64: Altruism • Philanthropy • Intergenerational Transfers C91: Laboratory, Individual Behavior C93: Field Experiments
Type
Article
Information
Experimental Economics , Volume 16 , Issue 2 , June 2013 , pp. 155 - 169
Copyright
Copyright © 2012 Economic Science Association

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

Electronic Supplementary Material The online version of this article (doi:https://doi.org/10.1007/s10683-012-9337-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

References

Andreoni, J., & Bernheim, B. D. (2009). Social image and the 50–50 norm: a theoretical and experimental analysis of audience effects. Econometrica, 77(5), 1607–1636. 10.3982/ECTA7384Google Scholar
Andreoni, J., & Justin, M. R. Trachtmann, H. (2011). Avoiding the ask: a field experiment on altruism, empathy, and charitable giving. Nber Working Paper Series (Working Paper 17648).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baran, N., & Sapienza, P. Zingales, L. (2009). Can we infer social preferences from the lab? Evidence from the trust game. NBER Working Paper Series (Working Paper 15654).Google Scholar
Bardsley, N. (2008). Dictator game giving: altruism or artefact?. Experimental Economics, 11(2), 122–133. 10.1007/s10683-007-9172-2CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barr, A., & Zeitlin, A. (2010). Dictator games in the lab and in nature: external validity tested and investigated in Ugandan primary schools. CSAE Working Paper.Google Scholar
Benz, M., & Meier, S. (2008). Do people behave in experiments as in the field?—Evidence from donations. Experimental Economics, 11(3), 268–283. 10.1007/s10683-007-9192-yCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blanco, M., Engelmann, D., & Normann, H. T. (2011). A within-subject analysis of other-regarding preferences. Games and Economic Behavior, 72(3), 321–338. 10.1016/j.geb.2010.09.008CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bridges, F. S., Thompson, P. C., & Coady, N. P. (2001). Homeless affiliation, location, and sender address in return of lost letters. Journal of Social Distress and the Homeless, 10(3), 235–242. 10.1023/A:1016636723628CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Camerer, C. F. (2003). Behavioral game theory: experiments in strategic interaction, New York: University Presses CA.Google Scholar
Camerer, C. F. (2011). The promise and success of lab-field generalizability in experimental economics: a critical reply to Levitt and List. SSRN Working Paper.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Card, D., DellaVigna, S., & Malmendier, U. (2011). The role of theory in field experiments. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 25(3), 39–62. 10.1257/jep.25.3.39CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carpenter, J., & Meyers, C. K. (2010). Why volunteer? Evidence on the role of altruism, image, and incentives. Journal of Public Economics, 94, 911–920. 10.1016/j.jpubeco.2010.07.007CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cherry, T. L., Frykblom, P., & Shogren, J. F. (2002). Hardnose the dictator. The American Economic Review, 92(4), 1218–1221. 10.1257/00028280260344740CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Crowne, D. P., & Marlowe, D. (1960). A new scale of social desirability independent of psychopathology. Journal of Consulting Psychology, 24(4), 349–354. 10.1037/h0047358CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dana, J., Weber, R. A., & Kuang, J. X. (2007). Exploiting moral wiggle room: experiments demonstrating an illusory preference for fairness. Economic Theory, 33(1), 67–80. 10.1007/s00199-006-0153-zCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Engel, C. (2011). Dictator games: A meta study. Experimental Economics, 14(4), 583–610. 10.1007/s10683-011-9283-7CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Englmaier, F., & Gebhardt, G. (2010). Free riding in the lab and in the field. Governance and the efficiency of social systems (GESY), CESifo Working Paper No. 344.Google Scholar
Fehr, E., & Leibbrandt, A. (2008). Cooperativeness and impatience in the tragedy of the commons. Institute for Empirical Research in Economics, University of Zurich Working Paper No. 378.Google Scholar
Franzen, A., & Pointner, S. (2012). Anonymity in the dictator game revisited. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 81(1), 74–81. 10.1016/j.jebo.2011.09.005CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Frey, B. S., & Meier, S. (2004). Pro-social behavior in a natural setting. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organisation, 54(1), 65–88. 10.1016/j.jebo.2003.10.001CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gurven, M., & Winking, J. (2008). Collective action in action: prosocial behavior in and out of the laboratory. American Anthropologist, 110(2), 179–190. 10.1111/j.1548-1433.2008.00024.xCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harrison, G. W., & List, J. A. (2004). Field experiments. Journal of Economic Literature, 43(4), 1009–1055. 10.1257/0022051043004577CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hoffman, E., McCabe, K., & Smith, V. (1996). Social distance and other-regarding behavior in dictator games. The American Economic Review, 86(3), 653–660.Google Scholar
Howitt, D., & McCabe, J. (1978). Attitudes do predict behaviour—in mails at least. British Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 17(3), 285–286. 10.1111/j.2044-8260.1978.tb00281.xCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Howitt, D., Craven, G., Iveson, C., Kremer, J., McCabe, J., & Rolph, T. (1977). The misdirected letter. The British Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 16, 285–286. 10.1111/j.2044-8260.1977.tb00231.xCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Karlan, D. S. (2005). Using experimental economics to measure social capital and predict financial decisions. The American Economic Review, 95(5), 1688–1699. 10.1257/000282805775014407CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kremer, J., Barry, R., & McNally, A. (1986). The misdirected letter and the quasi-questionnaire: unobtrusive measures of prejudice in Northern Ireland. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 16(4), 303–309. 10.1111/j.1559-1816.1986.tb01142.xCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Levitt, S. D., & List, J. A. (2007). What do laboratory experiments measuring social preferences reveal about the real world?. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 21(2), 153–174. 10.1257/jep.21.2.153CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Levitt, S. D., & List, J. A. (2009). Field experiments in economics: the past, the present, and the future. European Economic Review, 53(1), 1–18. 10.1016/j.euroecorev.2008.12.001CrossRefGoogle Scholar
List, J. A. (2007). On the interpretation of giving in dictator games. Journal of Political Economy, 115(3), 482–493. 10.1086/519249CrossRefGoogle Scholar
List, J. A. (2011). Why economists should conduct field experiments and 14 tips for pulling one off. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 25(3), 3–16. 10.1257/jep.25.3.3CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Merritt, C. B., & Fowler, R. G. (1948). The pecuniary honesty of the public at large. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 43(1), 90–93. 10.1037/h0061846CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Milgram, S. (1969). The lost letter technique. Psychology Today, 3(1), 30–33 66–68.Google Scholar
Milgram, S., Mann, L., & Harter, S. (1965). The lost letter-technique: a tool of social research. Public Opinion Quarterly, 29(3), 437–438. 10.1086/267344CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sechrest, L., & Belew, J. Bickman, L. (1983). Nonreactive measures of social attitudes. Applied social psychology annual, Beverly Hills: Sage 23–64.Google Scholar
Stoop, J. (2012). From the lab to the field: envelopes, dictators and manners. Munich Personal RePEc Archive, MPRA Paper No. 37048.Google Scholar
Wilson, D. S., O’Brien, D. T., & Sesma, A. (2009). Human prosociality from an evolutionary perspective: variation and correlations at a city-wide scale. Evolution and Human Behavior, 30(3), 190–200. 10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2008.12.002CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Supplementary material: File

Franzen and Pointner supplementary material

Appendix
Download Franzen and Pointner supplementary material(File)
File 278.3 KB