How to subsidize contributions to public goods - Does the frog jump out of the boiling water?

old_uid6144
titleHow to subsidize contributions to public goods - Does the frog jump out of the boiling water?
start_date2009/01/30
schedule10h
onlineno
summaryAccording to popular belief, frogs jump out of the water when the temperature is raised quickly while they are boiled to death when the water is gradually heated. In this paper, we investigate how humans respond to a very slow versus a very steep increase of a subsidy on contributions to a public good. In a series of experiments, we vary the mode of the increase – quick versus gradual – and whether subjects perform a single task or a dual task. In the dual task experiments, subjects are distracted because they work on an additional individual earnings task while they decide about their continuous) contributions to the public good.
responsiblesHollard