The (True) Legacy of Two Really Existing Economic Systems

Munich Discussion Paper No. 2014-26

26 Pages Posted: 22 Jun 2014 Last revised: 30 Apr 2015

See all articles by Dan Ariely

Dan Ariely

Duke University - Fuqua School of Business

Ximena Garcia-Rada

Harvard University - Business School (HBS)

Lars Hornuf

Technische Universität Dresden; CESifo (Center for Economic Studies and Ifo Institute)

Heather Mann

Duke University - Fuqua School of Business

Date Written: March 19, 2015

Abstract

By running an experiment among Germans collecting their passports or ID cards in the citizen centers of Berlin, we find that individuals with an East German family background cheat significantly more on an abstract task than those with a West German family background. The longer individuals were exposed to socialism, the more likely they were to cheat on our task. While it was recently argued that markets decay morals (Falk and Szech, 2013), we provide evidence that other political and economic regimes such as socialism might have an even more detrimental effect on individuals’ behavior.

Keywords: experimental economics, cheating, cross-culture study

JEL Classification: C93, D63, P51

Suggested Citation

Ariely, Dan and Garcia-Rada, Ximena and Hornuf, Lars and Mann, Heather, The (True) Legacy of Two Really Existing Economic Systems (March 19, 2015). Munich Discussion Paper No. 2014-26, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2457000 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2457000

Dan Ariely

Duke University - Fuqua School of Business ( email )

Box 90120
Durham, NC 27708-0120
United States
(919) 381-4366 (Phone)

Ximena Garcia-Rada

Harvard University - Business School (HBS) ( email )

Soldiers Field Road
Morgan 270C
Boston, MA 02163
United States

Lars Hornuf (Contact Author)

Technische Universität Dresden ( email )

Dresden, 01307
Germany

HOME PAGE: http://www.hornuf.com

CESifo (Center for Economic Studies and Ifo Institute) ( email )

Poschinger Str. 5
Munich, DE-81679
Germany

Heather Mann

Duke University - Fuqua School of Business ( email )

Box 90120
Durham, NC 27708-0120
United States

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Downloads
4,138
Abstract Views
31,401
Rank
4,606
PlumX Metrics