The purpose of the study is to collect information that can be used to design a policy to induce the poor to invest in human capital. We use laboratory experimental methodology to measure the preferences and choices of the target population of a proposed government policy. We recruited 256...

One commonly used strategy in charitable fundraising is sharing names and contact information of donors between organizations, even those whose missions are unrelated. The efficacy of this practice hinges on the existence of "giving types," that is, a positive correlation at the individual level...

Experimental choice data from 881 subjects based on 40 time-tradeoff items and 32 risky choice items reveal that most subjects are time-inconsistent and most violate the axioms of expected utility theory. These inconsistencies cannot be explained by well-known theories of behavioral...

We investigate whether social preferences are stable across contexts using a field population of low-income Americans. We develop and demonstrate a simplified, visually-based experimental methodology appropriate for this population. We show that choices in a laboratory public goods game predict...

The purpose of the study is to better understand human capital investment decisions of the working poor, and to collect information that can be used to design a policy to induce the poor to invest in human capital. We use laboratory experimental methodology to elicit the preferences and observe...

Experimental work in economics prompted the development of theories of other-regarding behavior. In this article we reanalyze two classic public goods experiments and focus on the nature of individuals’ responses to others’ behavior in order to help distinguish alternative motives for...