Do Norms on Contribution Behavior Affect Intrinsic Motivation? Field-Experimental Evidence from Germany

Boyer P, Dwenger N, Rincke J (2016)


Publication Type: Journal article

Publication year: 2016

Journal

Series: forthcoming in: Journal of Public Economics

Book Volume: 144

Pages Range: 140-153

URI: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0047272716301499

DOI: 10.1016/j.jpubeco.2016.10.003

Abstract

This paper studies how imposing norms on contribution behavior affects individuals' intrinsic motivation. We consider the church levy, which the Catholic Church in Germany collects as a charitable donation, despite the fact that the levy is legally a tax. We design a randomized field experiment with treatments informing individuals that the levy is a tax. We demonstrate that treatment effects differ across motivational types. Among weakly intrinsically motivated individuals, communicating the legal norm results in a significant crowd-out of intrinsic motivation. In contrast, strongly intrinsically motivated individuals do not show any treatment response.

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APA:

Boyer, P., Dwenger, N., & Rincke, J. (2016). Do Norms on Contribution Behavior Affect Intrinsic Motivation? Field-Experimental Evidence from Germany. Journal of Public Economics, 144, 140-153. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jpubeco.2016.10.003

MLA:

Boyer, Pierre, Nadja Dwenger, and Johannes Rincke. "Do Norms on Contribution Behavior Affect Intrinsic Motivation? Field-Experimental Evidence from Germany." Journal of Public Economics 144 (2016): 140-153.

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