Events

Seminar Series of RECENS & CEU-CNS: Nikita Krugljakov on 7 January, 2014

Abstract In a lab experiment I study whether the beneficiaries of a generous act themselves act more generously towards disadvantaged third parties. Participants play a three-player version of the trust game. The trustee decides how to allocate the money received from the trustor between the trustor, herself, and a third party. I find that the trustee positively reciprocates towards the trustor and the third party. However, the relationship between trustor’s giving and trustee’s total giving is U-shaped. The trustee favors the third party (the trustor) when the transfer from the trustor is small (large). My findings add to the growing literature on generalized reciprocity. They suggest that the diffusion of prosocial behavior – often referred to as the pay it forward phenomenon – is less likely to be observed in situations in which the benefactors act very generously towards the beneficiaries and the latter can directly reciprocate towards the former.