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When Foul Play Seems Fair: Exploring the Link between Just Deserts and Honesty

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  • Fabio Galeotti

    (GATE Lyon Saint-Étienne - Groupe d'Analyse et de Théorie Economique Lyon - Saint-Etienne - ENS de Lyon - École normale supérieure de Lyon - UL2 - Université Lumière - Lyon 2 - UCBL - Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 - Université de Lyon - UJM - Université Jean Monnet - Saint-Étienne - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)

  • Reuben Kline

    (SBU - Stony Brook University [SUNY] - SUNY - State University of New York)

  • Raimondello Orsini

    (DAIS - Computer Science - University of Ca’ Foscari [Venice, Italy])

Abstract

The distributive justice norm of " just deserts " — i.e. the notion that one gets what one deserves — is an essential norm in a market society, and honesty is an important factor in economic and social exchange. We experimentally investigate the effect of violations of the distributive justice norm of " just deserts " on honesty in a setting where behaving dishonestly entails income redistribution. We find that the violation of the just deserts norm results in a greater propensity toward dishonesty. We then test a more general proposition that violations of just deserts induce dishonesty, even in cases where dishonesty does not have redistributive consequences. Our results confirm this proposition but only for cases in which the v iolation of just deserts also entails income inequality. Abstract The distributive justice norm of " just deserts " —i.e. the notion that one gets what

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  • Fabio Galeotti & Reuben Kline & Raimondello Orsini, 2017. "When Foul Play Seems Fair: Exploring the Link between Just Deserts and Honesty," Working Papers halshs-01579214, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:wpaper:halshs-01579214
    Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://shs.hal.science/halshs-01579214
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    1. Birkelund, Johan & Cherry, Todd L., 2020. "Institutional inequality and individual preferences for honesty and generosity," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 170(C), pages 355-361.
    2. Sven Grüner & Ilia Khassine, 2022. "Is there a link between endowment inequality and deception? – an analysis of students and chess players," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 17(1), pages 1-18, January.
    3. Mitra, Arnab & Shahriar, Quazi, 2020. "Why is dishonesty difficult to mitigate? The interaction between descriptive norm and monetary incentive," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    4. Dezső, Linda & Alm, James & Kirchler, Erich, 2022. "Inequitable wages and tax evasion," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 96(C).
    5. Claire Mouminoux & Jean-Louis Rullière & Stéphane Loisel, 2018. "Obfuscation and Honesty Experimental Evidence on Insurance Demand with Multiple Distribution Channels," Working Papers hal-01819522, HAL.
    6. Claire Mouminoux, 2023. "Can misfortune lead to dishonesty?," Rationality and Society, , vol. 35(3), pages 293-310, August.
    7. Grundmann, Susanna, 2020. "Do just deserts and competition shape patterns of cheating?," Passauer Diskussionspapiere, Volkswirtschaftliche Reihe V-79-20, University of Passau, Faculty of Business and Economics.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Meritocracy; Equity; Dishonesty; Just Deserts; Experiment;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C91 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Laboratory, Individual Behavior
    • D03 - Microeconomics - - General - - - Behavioral Microeconomics: Underlying Principles
    • D31 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - Personal Income and Wealth Distribution
    • D63 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Equity, Justice, Inequality, and Other Normative Criteria and Measurement

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