Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/122204 
Year of Publication: 
2014
Series/Report no.: 
Working Papers in Economics and Statistics No. 2014-23
Publisher: 
University of Innsbruck, Research Platform Empirical and Experimental Economics (eeecon), Innsbruck
Abstract: 
This paper reports the results of experiments designed to isolate the impact of various combinations of the following motives on trustworthiness: (i) unconditional other-regarding preferences - like altruism, inequality aversion, quasi-maximin, etc.; (ii) deal-responsiveness - reacting to actions that allow for a mutual improvement by adopting behavior that implies a mutual improvement; (iii) gift-responsiveness - reacting to choices that allow the trustee to obtain an improvement by adopting actions that benefit the trustor; and (iv) vulnerability-responsiveness - reacting to the vulnerability of the trustor by adopting actions that do not hurt the trustor. Our results indicate that - besides unconditional other-regarding preferences - vulnerability-responsiveness is an important determinant of trustworthiness even in cases where the vulnerability of the trustor does not come together with a gift to the trustee. Motivated by our empirical findings we provide formal definitions of trust and trustworthiness based on revealed willingness to accept vulnerability and the response to it.
Subjects: 
trustworthiness
trust
trust game
investment game
deal-responsiveness
gift-responsiveness
vulnerability-responsiveness
generosity
reciprocity
JEL: 
C70
C91
D63
D64
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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