Cheating and Corruption: Evidence from a Household Survey

Discussion Papers 1826, 31 S.

Olaf Hübler, Melanie Koch, Lukas Menkhoff, Ulrich Schmidt

2019. This paper has been updated as DP 1917.

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Abstract

This study tests the prediction that a corrupt government reduces ethical behavior among its citizens. We integrate a standard "cheating" experiment into a broad household survey and find clear support for this prediction: respondents who perceive corruption in state affairs are more likely to cheat. Interestingly, there is a small group of non-conformers. The main relation is robust to consideration of many (largely insignificant) socio-demographic control variables. Attendance of others at the cheating experiment, thus stimulating the reputational concern to be seen as honest, reduces cheating. Again, this does not diminish the predictive role of corruption.

Lukas Menkhoff

Senior Research Associate in the Macroeconomics Department



JEL-Classification: D91;D81;D73
Keywords: Cheating, Corruption, Individual Characteristics, Lab-in-the-Field Experiment
Frei zugängliche Version: (econstor)
http://hdl.handle.net/10419/206632

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