Score contribution per author:
α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count
We conduct a dictator experiment with children (7–16 years old) and adults to study the development of the underlying motivations for other-regarding behavior. Prior to choosing the sharing rule, our participants can manipulate their access to information and remain strategically ignorant of the payoffs associated with some or all of the alternatives. We find that information avoidance is infrequent (11.2% of the trials) and occurs for two opposite motives: some participants –mostly adults– look only at their payoffs and maximize them whereas some other participants –mostly school age children– look only at the other person’s payoffs and maximize them. Among fully informed participants, sharing depends on age but it is also nuanced by the opportunity cost of giving.