Funding a new bridge in rural Vietnam: a field experiment on social influence and default contributions

carlsson, fredrik; johansson-stenman, olof; khanh nam, pham;

Public goods provision is essential for economic development. Yet there is limited evidence regarding contributions to local public goods in developing countries. This article analyses a field experiment where all 200 households in a village in rural Vietnam make real contributions to a public good that is very important for them in daily life�a bridge. We study the role of social influence (that people may be more willing to co-operate if others do) and the effects of the default alternative in the choice situation. We find significant and substantial (in the order of magnitude of 15�25%) effects of both social influence and defaults but only when providing low reference or default contributions.