Truth In Giving: Experimental Evidence On The Welfare Effects Of Informed Giving To The Poor

It is often difficult for donors to predict the value of charitable giving because they know little about the persons who receive their help. This concern is particularly acute when making contributions to organizations that serve heterogeneous populations. While the authors have considerable evidence that donors are more generous if they know their assistance benefits a preferred group, they know little about the demand for such information. To start closing this gap, they study transfers of income to real-world poor people in the context of dictator games.