A survey of economic theories and field evidence on pro-social behavior

In recent years, a large number of economic theories have evolved to explain people’s pro‐social behavior and the variation in their respective behavior. This paper surveys economic theories on pro‐social behavior and presents evidence—mainly from the field—testing these theories. In addition, the survey emphasizes that institutional environment might significantly interact with pro‐social preferences and explain some of the variation in observed pro‐social behavior. JEL codes: D64, C93, H41, D01 Stephan Meier is an Economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston’s Research Center for Behavioral Economics and Decision‐Making. His e‐mail address is [email protected]. This paper, which may be revised, is available on the web site of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston at http://www.bos.frb.org/economic/wp/index.htm. I am grateful for helpful comments from Matthias Benz, Bruno S. Frey, Simon Gächter, Lorenz Götte, Simon Lüchinger, Alois Stutzer, and two referees. The views expressed herein are solely those of the author and not those of the Federal Reserve System or the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.