Global Insights from Experimental Economics
Paper Session
Monday, Jan. 5, 2026 8:00 AM - 10:00 AM (EST)
- Chair: Nikos Nikiforakis, New York University-Abu Dhabi
A Competitive World
Abstract
We elicit willingness to compete in large and representative samples in 62 countries covering all continents. We also shed light on the socialization of boys and girls around the globe by eliciting the importance adults attach to boys' and girls' willingness to compete. Globally, a majority of people are willing to compete against others and find it important that children are willing to compete. Nevertheless, the shares vary strongly across countries and we show that this variation is related to inequality: people in more unequal countries are more competitive and find it more important that children are willing to compete. The same applies within-country for people who experienced higher levels of inequality in their youth. We also document some near-universal patterns that replicate the main findings of the competitiveness literature at a global scale: in all but one country, men are more competitive than women, and in the vast majority of countries willingness to compete is positively associated with income and level of education. Despite the near-universal gender gap in competitiveness among adults, people in many – mostly Western -- countries place greater importance on girls' than boys' willingness to compete. People who experienced higher levels of gender inequality in their youth attach relatively less importance to the willingness to compete of girls.Income and Intrinsic Honesty Around the World
Abstract
Understanding the ethical behavior of economic elites is critical in an era where high-income individuals wield growing influence over legal and political systems. Drawing on incentivized behavioral data from over 65,000 nationally representative respondents across 70 countries, this study examines the relationship between income and intrinsic honesty around the world. Participants take part in the “Mind Game,” which enables them to lie for money without risk of being detected, while allowing researchers to measure dishonesty at the group level. We uncover substantial cross-country variation: in some countries, income positively correlates with greater honesty, whereas in others with greater dishonesty. The variation in relative dishonesty is associated with institutional quality in general, and the relative treatment of high-income individuals by the judicial system in specific. Paradoxically, as institutional quality improves, high-income individuals become more dishonest relative to lower-income individuals. Our findings highlight the role of institutions in shaping the relative morality of the elites.Discussant(s)
Catherine Eckel
,
Texas A&M University
Alex Imas
,
University of Chicago
Lise Vesterlund
,
University of Pittsburgh
JEL Classifications
- C9 - Design of Experiments
- D2 - Production and Organizations