We define a concept of status equilibrium for local public good economies. A status equilibrium specifies one status index for each agent in an economy. These indices determine agents’ cost shares in any possible jurisdiction. We provide an axiomatic characterization of status equilibrium using consistency properties. ∗We thank James Foster, John Conley, Rick Bond, and participants of PET05 for...

Behaviour in public good experiments is usually attributed partly to rational self-interest and partly to social norms and preferences. This paper examines if sensitivity to social desirability affects public good contribution and in what way. A pre-experimental measure of social desirability (SDS17) was used to match partners in a two-person public good game. Half the participants received exp...

April 22, 2017, was the date of the 132nd annual meeting of the Association of American Physicians (AAP). April 22nd was also the date of the March for Science, which was held in 600 cities globally. AAP was a formal sponsor of the march, with 84% of its members endorsing it. Apart from the march, the trisociety AAP-ASCI and American Physician Scientists Association (APSA) meeting offered its u...

Grassroots fundraising leverages favor trading in social networks to support the provision of a public good. We use a laboratory experiment to study the elements and dynamics of this type of institution. Peer-to-peer reciprocity is important, and having the ability to practice targeted reciprocity in our experiment increases contributions to the public good by 14%. Subjects reward group members...