Pre-election communication in public good games with endogenous leaders

In a Public Good experiment with an elected first-mover, we study how leadership candidates’ statements affect their election and followers’ contributions. Explicitly emphasizing efficiency and fairness boosts votes and contributions, but leader contributions remain the strongest predictor of follower behavior. • Leadership can solve social dilemmas, but its effectiveness varies. • We conduct a lab experiment on a sequential Public Good game with leadership vote. • Leadership candidates’ written statements affect their chances of being elected. • The leaders’ first-mover contributions have a large effect on follower contributions.