Leadership and the voluntary provision of public goods: Field evidence from Bolivia
We conduct a controlled field experiment in 52 communities in rural Bolivia to investigate the effect that local authorities have on voluntary public good provision. In our study, community members pool resources to provide environmental education material for local schools. We find that voluntary c...
| Autores principales: | , |
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| Formato: | Journal Article |
| Lenguaje: | Inglés |
| Publicado: |
Elsevier
2015
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| Materias: | |
| Acceso en línea: | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/149738 |
| _version_ | 1855531649211564032 |
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| author | Jack, B. Kelsey Recalde, Maria P. |
| author_browse | Jack, B. Kelsey Recalde, Maria P. |
| author_facet | Jack, B. Kelsey Recalde, Maria P. |
| author_sort | Jack, B. Kelsey |
| collection | Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace) |
| description | We conduct a controlled field experiment in 52 communities in rural Bolivia to investigate the effect that local authorities have on voluntary public good provision. In our study, community members pool resources to provide environmental education material for local schools. We find that voluntary contributions increase when democratically elected local authorities lead by example. The results are driven by two factors: (1) authorities, like other individuals, give more when they are called upon to lead than when they give in private, and (2) high leader contributions increase the likelihood that others follow. Both effects are stronger when authorities, as compared to randomly selected community members, lead by example. We explore two underlying sources of leadership influence. First, we provide evidence that the effect of a leader's contribution is not limited to signaling the value of the public good. Second, we examine how leader characteristics affect the likelihood that others follow. Specifically, our study shows that authority influence is driven by a combination of formal leadership status, observable characteristics, and the amount that authorities contribute when they give publicly before others. |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | CGSpace149738 |
| institution | CGIAR Consortium |
| language | Inglés |
| publishDate | 2015 |
| publishDateRange | 2015 |
| publishDateSort | 2015 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| publisherStr | Elsevier |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | CGSpace1497382024-10-25T07:59:38Z Leadership and the voluntary provision of public goods: Field evidence from Bolivia Jack, B. Kelsey Recalde, Maria P. public goods field experimentation leadership We conduct a controlled field experiment in 52 communities in rural Bolivia to investigate the effect that local authorities have on voluntary public good provision. In our study, community members pool resources to provide environmental education material for local schools. We find that voluntary contributions increase when democratically elected local authorities lead by example. The results are driven by two factors: (1) authorities, like other individuals, give more when they are called upon to lead than when they give in private, and (2) high leader contributions increase the likelihood that others follow. Both effects are stronger when authorities, as compared to randomly selected community members, lead by example. We explore two underlying sources of leadership influence. First, we provide evidence that the effect of a leader's contribution is not limited to signaling the value of the public good. Second, we examine how leader characteristics affect the likelihood that others follow. Specifically, our study shows that authority influence is driven by a combination of formal leadership status, observable characteristics, and the amount that authorities contribute when they give publicly before others. 2015-01-20 2024-08-01T02:49:51Z 2024-08-01T02:49:51Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/149738 en Open Access Elsevier Jack, B. Kelsey; and Recalde, Maria P. 2015. Leadership and the voluntary provision of public goods: Field evidence from Bolivia. Journal of Public Economics 122(February 2015): 80-93. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpubeco.2014.10.003 |
| spellingShingle | public goods field experimentation leadership Jack, B. Kelsey Recalde, Maria P. Leadership and the voluntary provision of public goods: Field evidence from Bolivia |
| title | Leadership and the voluntary provision of public goods: Field evidence from Bolivia |
| title_full | Leadership and the voluntary provision of public goods: Field evidence from Bolivia |
| title_fullStr | Leadership and the voluntary provision of public goods: Field evidence from Bolivia |
| title_full_unstemmed | Leadership and the voluntary provision of public goods: Field evidence from Bolivia |
| title_short | Leadership and the voluntary provision of public goods: Field evidence from Bolivia |
| title_sort | leadership and the voluntary provision of public goods field evidence from bolivia |
| topic | public goods field experimentation leadership |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/149738 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT jackbkelsey leadershipandthevoluntaryprovisionofpublicgoodsfieldevidencefrombolivia AT recaldemariap leadershipandthevoluntaryprovisionofpublicgoodsfieldevidencefrombolivia |