Do social incentives matter? Evidence from an online experiment

Money matters, but is that all? This column presents evidence that social incentives can boost productivity in sectors that rely on pro-social behaviour such as health, education, and social care. It argues that this may help explain the growing popularity of Corporate Social Responsibility programmes within firms. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities, ranging from corporate philanthropy to the adherence of firms' operations to code of conducts involving, for instance, environmental protection or labour standards, are important and growing in their importance. As the Economist (2008) puts it, "it is almost unthinkable today for a big global corporation to be without [a corporate CSR policy]". Given their heterogeneous nature, it is not easy to quantify CSR activities in a comprehensive manner. However, the available figures suggest that CSR is more than a declaration of intents. For instance, the 139 US companies surveyed by the Conference Board gave $8.45 billion in charitable donations in 2010 (Tonello and Torok 2011). See full Article.