Are poor people conditionally cooperative? Contrasting evidence from a field-adapted contributions game

This IFPRI Discussion Paper examines how rural households in Mozambique decide whether to contribute money or time to a new World Vision school meals program that depends on community donations and volunteer labor. Using a field-adapted version of a classic economics experiment, researchers surveyed 1,248 households across 156 communities in Nampula and Zambézia provinces, asking how contributions would change depending on how many other households also contributed. The results challenge assumptions from prior lab-based studies, mostly conducted with university students in high-income countries. Rather than increasing contributions as others gave more, the majority of households gave less as others gave more — patterns rarely seen in the existing literature. These results held for both monetary donations and volunteering. The study also found that stronger perceived social cohesion, including trust and fairness, was associated with more cooperative giving. The findings suggest that community-driven programs cannot assume participation will rise simply by highlighting others’ contributions, and that investing in trust and social cohesion may be key to sustaining voluntary, community-based public goods.