Does context matter more for hypothetical than for actual contributions? Evidence from a natural field experiment

• We investigate the importance of the social context for people’s voluntary contributions to a national park in Costa Rica, using a natural field experiment. Some subjects make actual contributions while others state their hypothetical contribution. Both the degree of anonymity and provided information about the contributions of others influence subject contributions in the hypothesized direction. We do find a substantial hypothetical bias with regard to the amount contributed. However, the influence of the social contexts is about the same when the subjects make actual monetary contributions as when they state their hypothetical contributions. Our results have important implications for validity testing of stated preference methods: a comparison between hypothetical and actual behavior should be done for a given social context.

Nyckelord

Environmental valuation

stated preference methods

voluntary contributions

anonymity

conformity

natural field experiment

JEL-classification: C93

Q50

Publikations- och innehållstyp

vet (ämneskategori)

rap (ämneskategori)