journal article Jan 01, 2019

Preferences for Truth‐Telling

Econometrica Vol. 87 No. 4 pp. 1115-1153 · JSTOR
View at Publisher Save 10.3982/ecta14673
Abstract
Private information is at the heart of many economic activities. For decades, economists have assumed that individuals are willing to misreport private information if this maximizes their material payoff. We combine data from 90 experimental studies in economics, psychology, and sociology, and show that, in fact, people lie surprisingly little. We then formalize a wide range of potential explanations for the observed behavior, identify testable predictions that can distinguish between the models, and conduct new experiments to do so. Our empirical evidence suggests that a preference for being seen as honest and a preference for being honest are the main motivations for truth‐telling.
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Metrics
632
Citations
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References
Details
Published
Jan 01, 2019
Vol/Issue
87(4)
Pages
1115-1153
Funding
Economic and Social Research Council
Cite This Article
Johannes Abeler, Daniele Nosenzo, Collin Raymond (2019). Preferences for Truth‐Telling. Econometrica, 87(4), 1115-1153. https://doi.org/10.3982/ecta14673
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