Altruism in Society: Evidence from a Natural Experiment Involving Commuters

20 Pages Posted: 25 Apr 2011

See all articles by Redzo Mujcic

Redzo Mujcic

University of Queensland

Paul Frijters

Queensland University of Technology - School of Economics and Finance

Abstract

We study social preferences in the form of altruism using data on 959 interactions between random commuters at selected traffic intersections in the city of Brisbane, Australia. By observing real decisions of individual commuters on whether to stop (give way) for others, wefind evidence of (i) gender discrimination by both men and women, with women discriminating relatively more against the same sex than men, and men discriminating in favour of the opposite sex more than women; (ii) status-seeking and envy, with individuals who drive a more luxury motor vehicle having a 0.18 lower probability of receiving a kind treatment from others of low status, however this result improves when the decision maker is also of high status; (iii) strong peer effects, with those commuters accompanied by other passengers being 25 percent more likely to sacrifice for others; and (iv) an age effect, with mature-aged people eliciting a higher degree of altruism.

Keywords: altruism, social interaction, social discrimination, status, peer effects, commuters

JEL Classification: D64, D03, C90

Suggested Citation

Mujcic, Redzo and Frijters, Paul, Altruism in Society: Evidence from a Natural Experiment Involving Commuters. IZA Discussion Paper No. 5648, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1820939 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1820939

Redzo Mujcic (Contact Author)

University of Queensland ( email )

Paul Frijters

Queensland University of Technology - School of Economics and Finance ( email )

GPO Box 2434
2 George Street
Brisbane, Queensland 4001
Australia
(07) 3864 9364 (Phone)
(07) 3864 1500 (Fax)

HOME PAGE: http://www.bus.qut.edu.au/paulfrijters/index.jsp

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Downloads
210
Abstract Views
1,389
Rank
262,773
PlumX Metrics