Blood donation and the nature of altruism.

Health Research

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Blood donation and the nature of altruism. / Wildman, John ; Hollingsworth, Bruce.
In: Journal of Health Economics, Vol. 28, No. 2, 03.2009, p. 492-503.

Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review

Harvard

Wildman, J & Hollingsworth, B 2009, 'Blood donation and the nature of altruism.', Journal of Health Economics, vol. 28, no. 2, pp. 492-503. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhealeco.2008.11.005

APA

Wildman, J., & Hollingsworth, B. (2009). Blood donation and the nature of altruism. Journal of Health Economics, 28(2), 492-503. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhealeco.2008.11.005

Vancouver

Wildman J, Hollingsworth B. Blood donation and the nature of altruism. Journal of Health Economics. 2009 Mar;28(2):492-503. doi: 10.1016/j.jhealeco.2008.11.005

Author

Wildman, John ; Hollingsworth, Bruce. / Blood donation and the nature of altruism. In: Journal of Health Economics. 2009 ; Vol. 28, No. 2. pp. 492-503.

Bibtex

@article{47067de79c02474c994c908b62e9e094,

title = "Blood donation and the nature of altruism.",

abstract = "Approximately 10% of people have O-negative blood. Because it can be transfused into almost anyone, hospitals particularly value such blood. We use this fact, together with the assumption that blood types are exogenously assigned by nature, to design an empirical inquiry into altruism. We also investigate the timing of donations, especially focussing on the behaviour of new and established donors. We show that O-negative blood donors donate no more often than other people. Thus individuals apparently do not exhibit pure altruism. We speculate that instead blood donors may be driven by a broad notion of duty rather than by a far-sighted, rational unselfishness.",

keywords = "Blood donation, Charity , Public good , Altruism , Latent variable",

author = "John Wildman and Bruce Hollingsworth",

year = "2009",

month = mar,

doi = "10.1016/j.jhealeco.2008.11.005",

language = "English",

volume = "28",

pages = "492--503",

journal = "Journal of Health Economics",

issn = "0167-6296",

publisher = "Elsevier",

number = "2",

}

RIS

TY - JOUR

T1 - Blood donation and the nature of altruism.

AU - Wildman, John

AU - Hollingsworth, Bruce

PY - 2009/3

Y1 - 2009/3

N2 - Approximately 10% of people have O-negative blood. Because it can be transfused into almost anyone, hospitals particularly value such blood. We use this fact, together with the assumption that blood types are exogenously assigned by nature, to design an empirical inquiry into altruism. We also investigate the timing of donations, especially focussing on the behaviour of new and established donors. We show that O-negative blood donors donate no more often than other people. Thus individuals apparently do not exhibit pure altruism. We speculate that instead blood donors may be driven by a broad notion of duty rather than by a far-sighted, rational unselfishness.

AB - Approximately 10% of people have O-negative blood. Because it can be transfused into almost anyone, hospitals particularly value such blood. We use this fact, together with the assumption that blood types are exogenously assigned by nature, to design an empirical inquiry into altruism. We also investigate the timing of donations, especially focussing on the behaviour of new and established donors. We show that O-negative blood donors donate no more often than other people. Thus individuals apparently do not exhibit pure altruism. We speculate that instead blood donors may be driven by a broad notion of duty rather than by a far-sighted, rational unselfishness.

KW - Blood donation

KW - Charity

KW - Public good

KW - Altruism

KW - Latent variable

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=62149092901&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1016/j.jhealeco.2008.11.005

DO - 10.1016/j.jhealeco.2008.11.005

M3 - Journal article

AN - SCOPUS:62149092901

VL - 28

SP - 492

EP - 503

JO - Journal of Health Economics

JF - Journal of Health Economics

SN - 0167-6296

IS - 2

ER -

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