Prosocial preferences and behavior: insights from climate change concerns, donating, and volunteering
Prosocial behavior, such as donating, volunteering, and acting with future generations in mind, is essential for addressing societal challenges such as inequality and climate change. Because such behavior often involves personal costs, it cannot be taken for granted. Therefore, this dissertation aims to better understand why and under what conditions individuals are willing to act in the interest of others. It addresses both context-specific determinants of prosocial behavior and the underlying preferences that drive it.
The dissertation brings together five independent studies across two domains: charitable giving and climate-related attitudes. The first part examines how people allocate their time and money to charitable causes. It investigates how donating and volunteering are interrelated, that is, whether they act as complements or substitutes, and assesses the effectiveness of financial incentives in supporting forms of paid volunteering.
The second part focuses on attitudes toward climate change. It analyzes whether becoming a grandparent increases concern about the long-term effects of climate change, whether a subtle wording difference in a survey question affects reported climate concerns, and to what extent individuals understand exponential growth in climate-related contexts.
By combining behavioral economic theory with advanced econometric methods and rich panel and experimental survey data, the dissertation identifies causal relationships and increases our understanding of prosocial behavior. The findings provide insights for policies that aim to promote prosocial behavior as a means of addressing societal problems.