Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/35363 
Year of Publication: 
2008
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 3771
Publisher: 
Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
Using longitudinal data on the entire population of blood donors in an Italian town, we examine how donors respond to an award scheme which rewards them with medals when they reach certain donation quotas. Our results indicate that donors significantly increase the frequency of their donations immediately before reaching the thresholds for which the rewards are given, but only if the prizes are publicly announced in the local newspaper and awarded in a public ceremony. The results are robust to several specifications, sample definitions, and controls for observable and unobservable heterogeneity. Our findings are consistent with social image concerns being a primary motivator of pro-social behavior, and indicate that symbolic prizes are most effective as motivators when they are awarded publicly. Because we do not detect a reduction in donation frequency after the quotas are reached, this incentive based on social prestige leads to a net increase in the frequency of donations.
Subjects: 
Incentives
awards
public good provision
pro-social behavior
public health
social prestige
JEL: 
D12
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
Document Type: 
Working Paper

Files in This Item:
File
Size
354.43 kB





Items in EconStor are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.