Evidence on need-sensitive giving behavior: An experimental approach to the acknowledgment of needs

Abstract

We utilize a modified dictator game to analyze whether and how information about the need of recipients affects dictator giving behavior. Need information is presented as objective information about the recipients’ living circumstances (income, public transfers, and travel time to the lab) and subjective information about the recipients’ self-assessment of their need (stated need). The results show that information per se does not increase dictator giving. On average, dictator giving is need sensitive and acknowledges if objective and subjective needs complement each other. Classifying dictators according to their conditional transfers yields that 139 of the 246 (57%) dictators are need sensitive.