Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/126375 
Authors: 
Year of Publication: 
2015
Series/Report no.: 
WIDER Working Paper No. 2015/062
Publisher: 
The United Nations University World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER), Helsinki
Abstract: 
We conduct a lab experiment to assess whether gender of dictators and recipients, and distributional preferences affect allocations in a modified dictator game where both parties perform a cognitive task and the resulting pie to be split is the sum of both parties' earnings. Our key results are first, while on average all dictators keep more than their earned share of the pie, they display some respect for merit as the shares appropriated are correlated with their relative earnings. Second, male dictators appropriate a greater share of the pie than females and more is taken from known gender (male) recipients. Finally, most dictators can be classified as egalitarian, meritocratic or selfish. They invoke these fairness views in a situation-specific manner depending on their relative earning status and reveal self-serving biases.
Subjects: 
gender
distributive justice
laboratory experiment
India
JEL: 
C91
D63
J16
O53
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
ISBN: 
978-92-9230-951-0
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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