Lying Aversion and the Size of the Lie

S-Tier
Journal: American Economic Review
Year: 2018
Volume: 108
Issue: 2
Pages: 419-53

Score contribution per author:

2.681 = (α=2.01 / 3 authors) × 4.0x S-tier

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

Abstract

This paper studies lying. An agent randomly picks a number from a known distribution. She can then report any number and receive a monetary payoff based only on her report. The paper presents a model of lying costs that generates hypotheses regarding behavior. In an experiment, we find that the highest fraction of lies is from reporting the maximal outcome, but some participants do not make the maximal lie. More participants lie partially when the experimenter cannot observe their outcomes than when the experimenter can verify the observed outcome. Partial lying increases when the prior probability of the highest outcome decreases.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:aea:aecrev:v:108:y:2018:i:2:p:419-53
Journal Field
General
Author Count
3
Added to Database
2026-01-25