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Freedom Counts: Cross-Country Empirical Evidence

Author

Listed:
  • João V. Ferreira

    (University of Southampton)

  • Nobuyuki Hanaki

    (Institute of Social and Economic Research, Osaka University, Japan, and University of Limassol, Cyprus)

  • Fabrice Le Lec

    (Univ. Lille, CNRS, IESEG School of Management, UMR 9221 LEM Lille Economie Management, France)

  • Erik Schokkaert

    (Department of Economics, KU Leuven, Belgium)

  • Benoît Tarroux

    (Univ Lyon, Université Lyon 2, GATE UMR 5824)

Abstract

This paper investigates how people evaluate different sets of opportunities in terms of welfare and freedom of choice. To do this, we run a new survey-based study with 4,902 participants across 10 different countries, in which subjects face a series of theoretically-relevant binary comparisons of opportunity sets. Our analysis proceeds in two stages. We first use a naive Bayesian method to classify subjects according to the theoretical rules they implicitly employ to compare sets in terms of freedom and welfare. Then, we investigate whether subjects value freedom of choice even if more freedom does not lead to the choice of a better alternative (in- trinsic value of freedom of choice). Our main result is that an overwhelming majority of subjects reveal attaching intrinsic value to freedom. We also find that a large ma- jority of subjects use size-based rules to rank sets in terms of freedom, while there is considerable heterogeneity in the theoretical rules they employ to rank sets in terms of welfare. These results are strikingly robust across countries. All this suggests that it is important to offer choice to individuals in the design of organizations and public policies, even if this does not substantially change their choice behavior.

Suggested Citation

  • João V. Ferreira & Nobuyuki Hanaki & Fabrice Le Lec & Erik Schokkaert & Benoît Tarroux, 2023. "Freedom Counts: Cross-Country Empirical Evidence," Working Papers 2317, Groupe d'Analyse et de Théorie Economique Lyon St-Étienne (GATE Lyon St-Étienne), Université de Lyon.
  • Handle: RePEc:gat:wpaper:2317
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    File URL: https://www.gate.cnrs.fr/RePEc/2023/2317.pdf
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    Cited by:

    1. Yosuke Hashidate & Tetsuya Kawamura & Fabrice Le Lec & Yusuke Osaki & Benoît Tarroux, 2024. "Impure motivations in social preferences: Experimental evidence from menu choices," Working Papers 2406, Groupe d'Analyse et de Théorie Economique Lyon St-Étienne (GATE Lyon St-Étienne), Université de Lyon.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Freedom of choice; Welfare; Intrinsic value; Opportunity set; Cross-cultural survey;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C83 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Data Collection and Data Estimation Methodology; Computer Programs - - - Survey Methods; Sampling Methods
    • D63 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Equity, Justice, Inequality, and Other Normative Criteria and Measurement
    • I31 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - General Welfare, Well-Being

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