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Harming a favored side: an anomaly with supreme values and good intentions

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  • Arye L. Hillman

    (Bar Ilan University
    CESifo)

Abstract

Third-party adjudicators, be they governments, or politicians or academics, can take positions regarding who initiated a conflict, who is to blame for harm or damage, and who has violated international law. Decisions need not always be objective. There can be bias. I consider the anomaly of biased adjudicators providing incentives for harm to their favored side. The anomaly arises in real-life circumstances. The puzzle is why adjudicators with good intentions cooperate in bringing harm to the civilian population of the side with which they sympathize. Anomalies are usually addressed in a context of behavioral economics. I consider both behavioral and rational explanations.

Suggested Citation

  • Arye L. Hillman, 2021. "Harming a favored side: an anomaly with supreme values and good intentions," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 186(3), pages 275-285, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:pubcho:v:186:y:2021:i:3:d:10.1007_s11127-019-00750-z
    DOI: 10.1007/s11127-019-00750-z
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Supreme values; Third-party intervention; Politics of identity; Cognitive dissonance; Post-modernism; Selective-perception bias; Prejudice; Israel; Hamas;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D74 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Conflict; Conflict Resolution; Alliances; Revolutions
    • K33 - Law and Economics - - Other Substantive Areas of Law - - - International Law

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