Eliciting Moral Preferences: Theory and Experiment

Roland Bénabou, Armin Falk, Luca Henkel and Jean Tirole
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Roland Bénabou: Princeton University

Working Papers from Princeton University. Economics Department.

Abstract: We study the extent to which a person’s moral preferences can be inferred from their choices, and how behaviors that appear deontologically motivated should be interpreted. Comparing direct elicitation (DE) and multiple-price list (MPL) mechanisms, we characterize how image motives inflate the extent of prosocial behavior. The resulting signalling bias is shown to depend on the interaction between elicitation method and visibility level: it is greater under DE for low reputation concerns, and greater under MPL for high ones. We test the model’s predictions in an experiment with life-saving donations and find the key crossing effect predicted by the theory.

Keywords: Moral behavior; deontology; utilitarianism; consequentialism; social image; self-image; norms; preference elicitation; multiple price list; experiments (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C91 D01 D62 D64 D78 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022-05
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cbe, nep-evo, nep-exp and nep-upt
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:pri:econom:2022-26

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