No excuses for good behavior: Volunteering and the social environment

• Published in: Journal of public economics Vol. 95; no. 5; pp. 445 - 454
• Main Authors: Linardi, Sera, McConnell, Margaret A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier B.V 01.06.2011; Elsevier
• Series: Journal of Public Economics
• Subjects: Economic behaviour; Experiments; Labor; Labour; Labour productivity; Non-profit organizations; Organizational design; peers; prediction; Prosocial behavior; Prosocial behavior Experiments Voluntary contributions Labor Social image Organizational design; Quality standards; Signalling; Social environment; Social image; Voluntary contributions; Voluntary work; volunteerism; D64; Prosocial behavior; Voluntary contributions; Organizational design; L30; C90; Social image; Labor; Experiments
• ISSN: 0047-2727; 1879-2316
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jpubeco.2010.06.020

We study the effect of the social environment on the quantity and quality of voluntary labor contributions. By extending Benabou and Tirole's (2006) image signaling framework, we derive theoretical predictions on time volunteered given (1) the availability of excuses to stop volunteering and (2) the presence of an authority figure. We test these predictions in an experiment where laboratory subjects are directly involved in a local nonprofit operation. We find that in the absence of excuses to stop volunteering, subjects volunteer longer without working less productively. This increase is partially driven by subjects' reluctance to be the first to stop volunteering. The presence of an authority figure has little impact, but the presence of peers has a positive and significant impact.