@TechReport{iza:izadps:dp18796,
            	author={Costa-Font, Joan and Gatti, Nicolò and Turati, Gilberto and Wisen, Daniel},
            	title={COVID-19 Pandemic and Prosociality: An Experiment with Healthcare Professionals},
            	year={2026},
	month={Jul},
            	institution={Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)},
            	address={Bonn},
            	type={IZA Discussion Paper},
            	number={18796},
            	url={https://www.iza.org/publications/dp18796},
	abstract={We study the extent to which exposure to COVID-19 relates to healthcare professionals’ prosociality. Drawing on empirical evidence from an incentivized experiment and a companion survey of healthcare professionals (HCPs) at a large Italian hospital (N = 194), we find that different forms of exposure to COVID-19 predict their altruistic motivation in heterogeneous ways. HCPs who worked in COVID-19 wards or had a close relative or friend severely affected by the virus are more than 5 percentage points more likely to prioritize patient welfare over personal gain, with the association for professional exposure being mostly driven by female HCPs, especially nurses. Conversely, personally contracting COVID-19 is associated with a 6 percentage point decline in prosociality. Our results highlight that different experiences of need shape prosocial behavior in hospital settings.},
	keywords={COVID-19;provider altruism;healthcare professionals;medical decision-making;prosocial behavior;experiment},
            }