On the persistence of dishonesty

Stefania Bortolotti, Felix Kölle and Lukas Wenner

Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 2022, vol. 200, issue C, 1053-1065

Abstract: In social and economic interactions, individuals often exploit informational asymmetries and behave dishonestly to pursue private ends. In many of these situations, the costs and benefits from dishonest behavior do not accrue immediately and at the same time. In this paper, we experimentally investigate the role of time on dishonesty. Contrary to our predictions, we find that neither delaying the gains from cheating nor increasing temporal engagement with one’s own unethical behavior reduces the likelihood of cheating. Furthermore, providing individuals with an excuse to lie by inserting a delay between the time when private information is obtained and when it is reported does not affect cheating.

Keywords: Dishonesty; Cheating; Delay; Discounting; Experiment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C91 D82 D91 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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Related works:
Working Paper: On the Persistence of Dishonesty (2021)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jeborg:v:200:y:2022:i:c:p:1053-1065

DOI: 10.1016/j.jebo.2022.07.007

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