Self-selection and variations in the laboratory measurement of other-regarding preferences across subject pools Evidence from one college student and two adult samples

• Published in: Experimental economics : a journal of the Economic Science Association Vol. 16; no. 2; pp. 170 - 189
• Main Authors: Anderson, Jon, Burks, Stephen V, Carpenter, Jeffrey P, Götte, Lorenz, Maurer, Karsten, u.a
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Boston Springer US 01.06.2013; Springer Science + Business Media B.V; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Adverse Selektion; Altruismus; Behavior; Behavioral/Experimental Economics; Behavioural economics; College students; Colleges & universities; Cooperation; Dilemma; Economic statistics; Economic theory; Economic Theory/Quantitative Economics/Mathematical Methods; Economics; Economics and Finance; Economics of education; Erwachsene; Erwachsener; Experimental economics; Experimentelle Ökonomik; Experiments; Field work; Game Theory; Gefangenendilemma; Gefangener; Laboratories; Methodology; Microeconomics; Mittlerer Westen; Operations Research/Decision Theory; Preferences; Prisoner's dilemma; Social and Behav. Sciences; Student; Students; Studierende; Studies; Training; Truck drivers; U.S.A; USA; USA (Mittlerer Westen); Ökonomie; Prisoner’s dilemma; Methodology; D03; Selection bias; C90; Laboratory experiment; Truckload; Other-regarding behavior; Field experiment; Social preferences; Trucker
• ISSN: 1573-6938; 1386-4157; 1573-6938
• DOI: 10.1007/s10683-012-9327-7

We measure the other-regarding behavior in samples from three related populations in the upper Midwest of the United States: college students, non-student adults from the community surrounding the college, and adult trainee truckers in a residential training program. The use of typical experimental economics recruitment procedures made the first two groups substantially self-selected. Because the context reduced the opportunity cost of participating dramatically, 91 % of the adult trainees solicited participated, leaving little scope for self-selection in this sample. We find no differences in the elicited other-regarding preferences between the self-selected adults and the adult trainees, suggesting that selection is unlikely to bias inferences about the prevalence of other-regarding preferences among non-student adult subjects. Our data also reject the more specific hypothesis that approval-seeking subjects are the ones most likely to select into experiments. Finally, we observe a large difference between self-selected college students and self-selected adults: the students appear considerably less pro-social.