Leading-by-example and the voluntary provision of public goods in rural areas: Experimental evidence from China

IF 3.3 2区经济学 Q2 AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS & POLICY

European Review of Agricultural Economics Pub Date : 2024-12-05 DOI:10.1093/erae/jbae036

Ziming Liu, Zetian Wang, Jing Zhang, Shuyi Feng, Yuxin Zhu, Jens Rommel

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Comparing randomly selected and real-world political leaders, this paper investigates the effect of leading-by-example on voluntary contributions in a linear contribution mechanism public goods game experiment with 550 residents in rural China. This setting provides a unique social structure, shaping people’s responses to leadership. We find that leading-by-example set by political leaders and randomly selected leaders increases participants’ contribution by 1.432 and 1.162 Chinese Yuan, which is an increase of approximately 22 and 18 per cent of average contributions in the control group. The difference in the effects of leading-by-example set by political leaders and randomly selected leaders is small and statistically insignificant. Contributions under the leading-by-example treatments are driven by increased contributions from leaders and mimicking behaviour of followers, although following political leaders is weaker. Our findings highlight the crucial role of leading-by-example and strong village-level institutions in the provision of public goods.

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来源期刊

European Review of Agricultural Economics 管理科学-农业经济与政策

CiteScore

6.60

自引率

5.90%

发文量

审稿时长

>24 weeks

期刊介绍： The European Review of Agricultural Economics serves as a forum for innovative theoretical and applied agricultural economics research. The ERAE strives for balanced coverage of economic issues within the broad subject matter of agricultural and food production, consumption and trade, rural development, and resource use and conservation. Topics of specific interest include multiple roles of agriculture; trade and development; industrial organisation of the food sector; institutional dynamics; consumer behaviour; sustainable resource use; bioenergy; agricultural, agri-environmental and rural policy; specific European issues. Methodological articles are welcome. All published papers are at least double peer reviewed and must show originality and innovation. The ERAE also publishes book reviews.