Risk taking for others: an experiment on ethics meetings

Relying on an novel experimental design, we study the effect of, so called, ethics meetings on risktaking for others decisions in a situation where preferences of a decision maker are not aligned with those of a passive receiver. Decision makers choose between two risky gambles, one of which always implies a better outcome for himself but exposes the receiver to higher risk. In the main treatments (i.e. Ethics meeting), in contrast to the Baseline treatment, decision makers also discuss within a group of peers Eô before their decision Eô the consequences of their choice. Our results show that, in treatments with ethics meetings, decision makers tend to choose more often the less risky gamble for the receiver.