Honesty, beliefs about honesty, and economic growth in 15 countries

Hugh-Jones, David ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8360-8884 (2016) Honesty, beliefs about honesty, and economic growth in 15 countries. Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, 127. pp. 99-114. ISSN 0167-2681

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Abstract

The honesty of people in an online panel from 15 countries was measured in two experiments: reporting a coin flip with a reward for “heads”, and an online quiz with the possibility of cheating. There are large differences in honesty across countries. Average honesty is positively correlated with per capita GDP. This is driven mostly by GDP differences arising before 1950, rather than by GDP growth since 1950. A country’s average honesty correlates with the proportion of its population that is Protestant. These facts suggest a long-run relationship between honesty and economic development. The experiment also elicited participants’ expectations about different countries’ levels of honesty. Expectations were not correlated with reality. Instead they appear to be driven by cognitive biases, including self-projection.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	honesty,experiment,lying,sdg 8 - decent work and economic growth ,/dk/atira/pure/sustainabledevelopmentgoals/decent_work_and_economic_growth
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Social Sciences > School of Economics
UEA Research Groups:	Faculty of Social Sciences > Research Groups > Environment, Resources and Conflict Faculty of Social Sciences > Research Centres > Centre for Behavioural and Experimental Social Sciences Faculty of Social Sciences > Research Groups > Behavioural Economics
Depositing User:	Pure Connector
Date Deposited:	25 Apr 2016 11:35
Last Modified:	21 Aug 2023 01:03
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/58349
DOI:	10.1016/j.jebo.2016.04.012

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