Fairness Concerns and Corrupt Decisions:an Experimental Approach

Lena Epp and Nastassia Leszczynska

Working Papers ECARES from ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles

Abstract: This study investigates the impact of a public officials' fairness considerations towards citizens in a petty corruption situation. Other-regarding preferences, and, more particularly, fairness concerns are widely acknowledged as crucial elements of individual economic decision-making. In petty corruption contexts, public officials are to a large extent aware of differences between citizens. Here, we experimentally investigate how fairness considerations may impact on corrupt behaviour. Our novel bribery game reveals that bribes are less frequently accepted when bribers are unequal in terms of endowments. These results suggest that fairness considerations can inflluence corrupt behaviour.

Keywords: petty corruption; bribery; laboratory experiment; fairness; inequality (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C91 D63 D73 K42 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 25 p.
Date: 2017-04
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-exp, nep-law and nep-pol
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