Do Institutions Affect Social Preferences? Evidence from Divided Korea

Byung-Yeon Kim, Syngjoo Choi, Jungmin Lee, Sokbae Lee and Kyunghui Choi
Authors registered in the RePEc Author Service: Sokbae (Simon) Lee

Journal of Comparative Economics, 2017, vol. 45, issue 4, 865-888

Abstract: The division of Korea is a historic social experiment that randomly assigned ex ante identical individuals into two different economic and political institutions. About 70 years after the division, we sample Koreans who were born and raised in the two different parts of Korea to study whether institutions affect social preferences. We find that those from North Korea behave in a less self-interested manner and support the market economy and democracy less than those from South Korea. A follow-up study shows that social preferences did not change considerably in two years. We check robustness against sample selection and potential confounding factors such as income differences. Our findings indicate that preferences are rooted in institutions.

Keywords: Social preferences; Experiment; Institutions; Market economy; Democracy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C92 C93 D03 P20 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (13)

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Related works:
Working Paper: Do institutions affect social preferences? Evidence from divided Korea (2013)
Working Paper: Do institutions affect social preferences? Evidence from divided Korea (2013)
Working Paper: Do Institutions Affect Social Preferences? Evidence from Divided Korea (2013)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jcecon:v:45:y:2017:i:4:p:865-888

DOI: 10.1016/j.jce.2016.08.004

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