Title

Eliciting Moral Preferences: Theory and Experiment

Author(s)

Roland Bénabou Roland Bénabou (Princeton University)

Armin Falk Armin Falk (Institute on Behavior and Inequality (briq) and University of Bonn)

Luca Henkel Luca Henkel (University of Bonn)

Jean Tirole Jean Tirole (University of Toulouse Capitole)

Abstract

We study the extent to which a person’s moral preferences can be inferred from their choices, and how behaviors that appear deontologically motivated should be interpreted. Comparing direct elicitation (DE) and multiple-price list (MPL) mechanisms, we characterize how image motives inflate the extent of prosocial behavior. The resulting signalling bias is shown to depend on the interaction between elicitation method and visibility level: it is greater under DE for low reputation concerns, and greater under MPL for high ones. We test the model’s predictions in an experiment with life-saving donations and find the key crossing effect predicted by the theory.

Creation Date

2022-05

Section URL ID

Paper Number

2022-26

URL

https://scholar.princeton.edu/sites/default/files/rbenabou/files/moral_preference_29_05_22.pdf

File Function

Jel

C91, D01, D62, D64, D78

Keyword(s)

Moral behavior, deontology, utilitarianism, consequentialism, social image, self-image, norms, preference elicitation, multiple price list, experiments

Suppress

false

Series

13