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Essays in Behavioral Economics
Vuletić Ćugalj, Danijela ; Bauer, Michal (advisor) ; Lacetera, Nicola (referee) ; Macis, Mario (referee)
xi Abstract In the first essay, I study the effects of reminders and frames designed to invoke higher levels of empathy and altruistic motives on the willingness to donate blood. I conduct a randomized field experiment with 3,236 blood donors from Bosnia and Herzegovina to test how effective frames are when used in letters soliciting blood donation. Further, I test the effectiveness of the letter itself, which served as a specific reminder, making the need for blood more salient. My baseline group did not receive any letter, while another seven groups received letters that differed in terms of goal framing; whether a specific "victim" was identified; and the gender of a "victim". I find that a reminder of the need for blood in the form of a simple letter increases the probability of donating blood by 6.44 percentage points (62%) relative to the baseline group, suggesting that reminder letters may serve as a cost-effective policy tool. At the same time, I find that the framing of the letter had relatively little effect. The second essay provides the first evidence of the existence of gender-based favoritism in life-saving decisions to donate blood. In a field experiment with blood donors from Bosnia and Herzegovina, I exogenously manipulate the signal of a blood recipient's gender by adding his/her name and...
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