Public Preferences: Do Citizens Choose Rational Self-Interest Or Fairness?

This study explores citizens' preferences for decision-making procedures on public goods.

We conducted a lab experiment where participants chose between majority voting and delegation to a welfare-maximizing algorithm. The three conditions tested participants' understanding of personal gain or group benefit from the procedure itself:

• Positive/negative payoffs in majority votes
• Positive/negative payoffs for an algorithm
• Neither type of information provided

Findings suggest instrumental motives are important, but many individuals prioritize intrinsic values like fairness.

Subjects preferred majority voting even when it didn't maximize their individual benefit. Intrinsic value seems particularly relevant to procedural choices.

Support for delegation increased significantly if participants knew the group would gain from public good provision.

This indicates citizens' decisions about decision procedures may be influenced by both self-interest and intrinsic motivations.

💡 Key Insights:

• Instrumental motives matter but aren't everything in procedural choice
• Intrinsic values drive significant numbers away from purely rational options
• Information framing affects willingness to delegate welfare-maximizing algorithms