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Abstract
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.