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Testing the Framework of Other-Regarding Preferences

Maria Levati, Aaron Nicholas and Birendra Rai ()

No 2011-041, Jena Economics Research Papers from Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena

Abstract: We assess the empirical validity of the overall theoretical framework of other-regarding preferences by focusing on those preference axioms that are common to all the prominent theories of outcome-based other-regarding preferences. This common set of preference axioms leads to a testable implication: the strict preference ranking of self over a finite number of alternatives lying on any straight line in the space of material payoffs to self and other will be single-peaked. The extent of single-peakedness varies from a high of 79% to a low of 54% across our treatments that are based on dictator and trust games. Positively and/or negatively other-regarding subjects are significantly less likely to report single-peaked rankings relative to self-regarding subjects. We delineate the potential reasons for violations of single-peakedness and discuss the implications of our findings for theoretical modeling of other-regarding preferences.

Keywords: Other-regarding preferences; social preferences; decision making under risk; single-peaked preferences; experiments (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C70 C91 D63 D81 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2011-09-30
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cbe, nep-evo, nep-exp, nep-gth, nep-neu and nep-upt
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