1,721,229 research outputs found
We can be heroes: trust and resilience in corrupted economic environments
Full text linkWe use an original variant of the standard trust game, in order to study the effect of corruption on trust and trustworthiness. In this game, both the trustor and the trustee know that part of the surplus they can generate may be captured by a third “corrupted” player under different expected costs of audit and prosecution. We find slightly higher trustor’s giving in presence
of corruption, matched by a significant effect of excess reciprocity from the trustee. Both the trustor and the trustee expect on average corruption acting as a tax, inelastic to changes in the
risk of corruptor audit. Expectations are correct for the inelasticity assumption, and for the actual value of the “corruption tax”. Our experimental findings lead to the rejection of four standard hypotheses based on purely self-regarding preferences. We discuss how the apparently paradoxical excess reciprocity effect is consistent with the cultural role of heroes
in history where examples of commendable giving were used to stimulate emulation of the ordinary people. Our results suggest that the excess reciprocity component of the trustee makes
trustor’s excess giving a rational and effective strategy
The new industrial revolution: the optimal choice for flexible work companies
No full textThe mandatory shift to remote work during the COVID-19 pandemic has made employers and employees increasingly aware of the productivity benefits that may arise from the digital revolution. To explore the characteristics of these gains, we build a model that enables companies to choose from three types of relationship inputs: face-to-face, remote synchronous, and remote asynchronous. Once remote interactions are included, five factors influencing job satisfaction and therefore worker productivity can be identified: (i) reduced mobility, (ii) interaction frequency, (iii) optimal time/place, (iv) work-life balance, and (v) relationship decay effects. We compute the optimal distribution of the three relationship types that maximize corporate profits, conditioning on reasonable parametric assumptions on these five effects. Additionally, we evaluate the potential productivity growth for companies employing only face-to-face interactions when introducing remote interactions. We test our theoretical predictions with a Structural Equation Model, revealing that remote work enhances worker satisfaction and willingness to contribute additional effort at the same wage. Our empirical findings have relevant implications for industrial and environmental policies at both national and supranational levels
The effect of fair trade affiliation on child schooling: Evidence from a sample of Chilean honey producers
No full textWe evaluate the impact of fair trade (FT) affiliation on child schooling within a sample of Chilean honey producers with a retrospective panel data approach. From a theoretical point of view we argue that FT should have a positive effect on child schooling since it generates a short run pure income effect together with a medium run productivity effect on both adult and child wages. On the other hand, because of the higher productivity generated by the medium run effect, the opportunity cost of child education increases if they work with their parents. The direction of the impact of FT affiliation on child schooling is therefore uncertain and requires empirical testing. Our econometric findings document a positive and significant impact of affiliation years on child schooling after controlling for endogeneity and heterogeneity between the treatment and control sample
MSI Discussion Paper MSI_2305
No full textA company that pursues illicit practices may crowd out competitors that behave legally eroding the public good of legality and integrity. Recently born institutional legality ratings tackle this problem. Redistributive policy actions aimed to tax “defectors” (i.e. buyers of unrated products)
in favor of “co-operators” (i.e. buyers of “legality-rated” products) may further enforce legality, and fight corruption. We analyze the impact of the legality-rating frame by means of a randomized experiment. Our findings document that redistribution mechanisms, the legality frame and the conformity information design contribute to alleviate the prisoner’s dilemma and generate significant deviations from the Nash Equilibrium.status: Publishe
Public disclosure of players’ conduct and common resources harvesting: experimental evidence from a Nairobi slum
Full text linkWe evaluate the effect of information disclosure (feedback on individual contributions and payoffs) on players’ behavior in a multi-period common pool resource game experiment run in an area of notably scarce social capital, such as the Nairobi slum of Kibera. We document that cooperation significantly declines over rounds when such information is revealed. Our results are consistent with the Ostrom (2000) hypothesis that, in the absence of formal punish
ment rules, the availability of information about individual behavior makes common resource management more difficult and tragedy of the commons easier
Il contributo degli indicatori di media e varianza dei rendimenti alla classificazione dei fondi
No full textInformation, Belief Elicitation and Threshold Effects in the 5X1000 Tax Scheme: A Framed Field Experiment
No full textIn this paper, we study by means of a framed field experiment on a representative sample of the population the effect on people’s charitable giving of three, substantial and procedural, elements: information provision, belief elicitation and threshold on distribution. We frame this investigation within the 5X1000 tax scheme, a mechanism through which Italian taxpayers may choose to give a small proportion (0.5%) of their income tax to a voluntary organization to fund its activities. We find two main results: (i) providing information or eliciting beliefs about previous donations increases the likelihood of a donation, while thresholds have no effect; (ii) information about previous funding increases donations to organizations that received fewer donations in the past, while belief elicitation also increases donations to organizations that received most donations in the past, since individuals are more likely to donate to the organizations they rank first
The drivers of happiness inequality: Suggestions for promoting social cohesion
Full text linkThis paper identifies and quantifies the contribution of a set of covariates in affecting levels and over time changes of happiness inequality. Using a decomposition methodology based on RIF regression, we analyse the increase in happiness inequality observed in Germany between 1992 and 2007, using the German Socio-Economic Panel (GSOEP) database, deriving the following findings. First, trends in happiness inequality are mainly driven by composition effects, while coefficient effects are negligible. Second, among composition effects, education has an inequality-reducing impact, while the increase in unemployment contributes to the rise in happiness inequality. Third, the increase in average income has a reducing impact on happiness inequality, while the raise in income inequality cannot be considered as a driver of happiness inequality trends. A clear cut policy implication is that policies enhancing education and economic performance contribute to reduce happiness inequality and the potential social tensions arising from it
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