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Spot On For Liars! How Public Scrutiny Influences Ethical Behavior

Andreas Ostermaier and Matthias Uhl

VfS Annual Conference 2017 (Vienna): Alternative Structures for Money and Banking from Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association

Abstract: We examine in a lab experiment whether people are more honest in public than in private. We find that outcome-minded subjects lie less in public to conform with expectations about others' behavior, which are ironically false. Rule-minded subjects, in turn, do not respond to public scrutiny. These findings challenge the common faith in public scrutiny to promote ethical behavior. While public scrutiny can improve ethical behavior, this effect is contingent on people's mindsets and expectations.

JEL-codes: D63 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cbe and nep-exp
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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