Baland and Robinson (2000) investigate the conditions under which decisions by parents about their own children’s work are inefficient. Using a simple two-period model with altruistically linked family members, they show that child labor decisions are efficient when credit markets are perfect and intergenerational altruistic transfers are nonzero. Moreover, they show that when the level of chil...

Public generosity may be a means to convincingly advertise one's good character. This hypothesis suggests that altruistic individuals will be desirable as romantic partners. Few studies have tested this prediction, and these showed mixed results. Some studies have found that altruism is not particularly attractive; other studies showed that altruism is attractive by contrasting descriptions of ...

Adult influence on children's altruistic behavior may differ between cultural communities. We used an experimental approach to assess the influence of adult models on children's altruistic giving in a city in the United States and rural villages in India. Children between 3 and 8 years of age were tested with their parents in the United States (n=163) and India (n=154). Parents modeled either a...