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Does Ethics Training Neutralize the Incentives of the Prisoner's Dilemma? Evidence from a Classroom Experiment

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Author Info
Harvey S. James Jr. (University of Missouri)
Jeffrey Cohen (University of Hartford)

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Abstract

Teaching economics has been shown to encourage students to defect in a prisoner's dilemma game. However, can ethics training reverse that effect and promote cooperation? We conducted an experiment to answer this question. We found that students who had the ethics module had higher rates of cooperation than students without the ethics module, even after controlling for communication and other factors expected to affect cooperation. We conclude that the teaching of ethics can mitigate the possible adverse incentives of the prisoner's dilemma, and, by implication, the adverse effects of economics and business training.

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Publisher Info
Paper provided by EconWPA in its series General Economics and Teaching with number 0202002.

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Length: 17 pages
Date of creation: 04 Feb 2002
Date of revision: 12 Mar 2003
Handle: RePEc:wpa:wuwpgt:0202002

Note: Type of Document - Microsoft Word; prepared on IBM PC; to print on HP; pages: 17; figures: none
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Web page: http://129.3.20.41

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Related research
Keywords: Prisoner's dilemma game; experimental game theory; ethics; economics education;

Find related papers by JEL classification:
A20 - General Economics and Teaching - - Economic Education and Teaching of Economics - - - General
C72 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Game Theory and Bargaining Theory - - - Noncooperative Games
C91 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Laboratory, Individual Behavior

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References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
  1. Tullock, Gordon, 1999. "Non-prisoner's dilemma," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 39(4), pages 455-458, July. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  2. Becker, Gary S, 1993. "Nobel Lecture: The Economic Way of Looking at Behavior," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 101(3), pages 385-409, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  3. Frank, Robert H & Gilovich, Thomas & Regan, Dennis T, 1993. "Does Studying Economics Inhibit Cooperation?," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 7(2), pages 159-71, Spring. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  4. Frank, Robert H & Gilovich, Thomas D & Regan, Dennis T, 1996. "Do Economists Make Bad Citizens?," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 10(1), pages 187-92, Winter. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. James, Harvey, 2002. "Finding Solutions To Ethical Problems In Agriculture," Working Papers 26046, University of Missouri Columbia, Department of Agricultural Economics. [Downloadable!]
  2. Harvey S. James Jr., 2003. "Are Happy People Ethical People? Evidence from North America and Europe," Microeconomics 0303004, EconWPA. [Downloadable!]
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