Context and Voluntary Contributions: An Experimental Analysis of Communication, Voting, and Status Quo Bias

This research examines the effect of three factors—cheap talk, voting, and the status quo of the donation—on the voluntary contribution mechanism (VCM). Using undergraduate business students, results show that contributions as a percent of income in the last of ten rounds range from 18% for the case of no cheap talk, no voting, and a status quo of not giving to 94% in the case where all three contexts are combined. These results demonstrate the surprising result that context can make the simple VCM produce sustained efficiencies similar to incentive compatible public-good mechanisms.