Robbing a robber is not robbing

Hind Dib-Slamani, Gilles Grolleau () and Naoufel Mzoughi

The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, 2022, vol. 85, issue C, 1-7

Abstract: Do outside observers judge differently an identical act of robbery if the victim is known as a robber rather than an honest individual? Popular wisdom, as magnified in several proverbs, suggests that most people do. We examine such a tenet using an experimental survey in Algeria (North-Africa). We also examine whether a differentiated moral judgement holds for two occupations tarnished with the reputation of robbing consumers, namely bankers and customs officials. Our findings support the proverb that ‘robbing a robber is not robbing’ and even its extension to custom officials. However, robbing a banker has not been found to be significantly different from robbing an honest individual. We draw several business and policy implications.

Keywords: Bankers; Custom officials; Ethics; Experimental survey; Robbers; Victims (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C91 K42 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:quaeco:v:85:y:2022:i:c:p:1-7

DOI: 10.1016/j.qref.2020.10.018

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