Is Altruism Paternalistic?

•  We test if altruism is paternalistic with respect to health. Subjects can donate money or nicotine patches to a smoking diabetes patient whose willingness to pay for nicotine patches is positive but below the market price. In a between-subjects treatment, average donations are 40% greater in the nicotine patches group. When subjects can donate both nicotine patches and money more than 90% of the donations are given in kind rather than cash. These results are also confirmed in three additional stability experiments that vary the framing, use food stamps instead of money, and use exercise instead of nicotine patches.

Subject headings

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Ekonomi och näringsliv -- Nationalekonomi (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Economics and Business -- Economics (hsv//eng)

Keyword

altruism

paternalism

bargaining

health

MEDICINE

MEDICIN

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

art (subject category)