Journal article
Leadership and the voluntary provision of public goods: Field evidence from Bolivia
BK Jack, MP Recalde
Journal of Public Economics | ELSEVIER SCIENCE SA | Published : 2015
Abstract
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 comm..
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Awarded by Harvard University
Funding Acknowledgements
We thank Fundacion Natura, the Sustainability Science Program at Harvard University, and the Agricultural Technology Adoption Initiative for support. Nigel Asquith, Maria Teresa Vargas and the rest of the staff at Natura provided invaluable support and guidance. Nava Ashraf, Lee Benham, Matthieu Chemin, Giovanna d'Adda, Sarah Jacobson, Margaret McConnell, Mushfiq Mobarak, Mary Shirley, Lise Vesterlund, Randy Walsh and audience members at the Inter-American Development Bank, IFPRI, Carnegie Mellon, Harvard, Pomona College, Trinity College, UC Santa Barbara, University of Wisconsin - Madison, University of Pittsburgh, Yale, the AERE summer meeting, the SITE experimental workshop, ESA, NTA, NEUDC, and the CAGE Conference on Generosity and Wellbeing provided useful comments. We thank Blaine Pellicore and Filipe Miranda for research assistance.