Morality in the market

B-Tier
Journal: Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization
Year: 2016
Volume: 129
Issue: C
Pages: 100-115

Score contribution per author:

2.011 = (α=2.01 / 1 authors) × 1.0x B-tier

α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count

Abstract

Being honest can be a competitive disadvantage. In markets with the opportunity to violate laws and regulations, producers who are willing to cheat may crowd out more efficient producers who are honest, and buyers who are willing to cheat may crowd out honest buyers with higher willingness to pay. This mechanism makes morality (honesty) a bad substitute for sanctions in markets. Honesty reduces cheating, but the output may be less efficiently produced and less efficiently allocated among buyers. I also show that the effect of honesty depends crucially on the fraction of honest traders among both buyers and sellers. While it does not matter whether a buyer or a seller pays the sanction, it does matter who is honest.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:eee:jeborg:v:129:y:2016:i:c:p:100-115
Journal Field
Theory
Author Count
1
Added to Database
2026-01-26