Working Paper: NBER ID: w30359
Authors: Mark A. Andor; James Cox; Andreas Gerster; Michael Price; Stephan Sommer; Lukas Tomberg
Abstract: We investigate how locus of control beliefs – the extent to which individuals attribute control over events in their life to themselves as opposed to outside factors – affect prosocial behavior and the private provision of public goods. We begin by developing a conceptual framework showing how locus of control beliefs serve as a weight placed on the returns from one’s own contributions (impure altruism) and others contributions (pure altruism). Using multiple data sets from Germany and the U.S., we show that individuals who relate consequences to their own behavior are more likely to contribute to climate change mitigation, to donate money and in-kind gifts to charitable causes, to share money with others, to cast a vote in parliamentary elections, and to donate blood. Our results provide comprehensive evidence that locus of control beliefs affect prosocial behavior.
Keywords: locus of control; prosocial behavior; public goods; altruism; charitable giving
JEL Codes: D03; D12; Q48; Q50
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| internal LOC (L00) | prosocial behavior (D64) |
| internal LOC (L00) | climate change mitigation (Q54) |
| internal LOC (L00) | charitable giving (D64) |
| internal LOC (L00) | willingness to subsidize renewable energy (Q42) |
| internal LOC (L00) | amount allocated for carbon offsets (H23) |
| internal LOC (L00) | blood donation likelihood (D64) |