Cash, Funeral Benefits or Nothing at All: How to Incentivize Family Consent for Organ Donation

Pham, Vinh (2021): Cash, Funeral Benefits or Nothing at All: How to Incentivize Family Consent for Organ Donation. Published in: Review of Behavioral Economics , Vol. 8, No. 2 (19 July 2021): pp. 147-192.

Abstract

Incentives, such as funeral expense reimbursements and direct payments for surviving families, have been suggested to increase organ supply from post-mortem donors. Following Heyman and Ariely’s 2004 findings on the impact of gift labeling and reward magnitude on behaviors in altruistic environments, this study utilizes a full factorial survey design to examine subjects’ moral assessment of funeral benefits and cash prizes, and the effects these incentives had on the willingness to provide family consent (WTC). Regression analysis showed that funeral aids, when presented as gifts, outperformed direct payments in all ethical principles. Furthermore, a full funeral service without a revealed value was found to increase WTC by 8.5% from the current system.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: organ donation, incentives, prosocial behavior, factorial survey
• Subjects: C - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods > C9 - Design of Experiments; C - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods > C9 - Design of Experiments > C91 - Laboratory, Individual Behavior; D - Microeconomics > D1 - Household Behavior and Family Economics > D12 - Consumer Economics: Empirical Analysis; D - Microeconomics > D6 - Welfare Economics > D64 - Altruism ; Philanthropy; I - Health, Education, and Welfare > I1 - Health > I18 - Government Policy ; Regulation ; Public Health

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