Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/216643 
Year of Publication: 
2020
Series/Report no.: 
MAGKS Joint Discussion Paper Series in Economics No. 03-2020
Publisher: 
Philipps-University Marburg, School of Business and Economics, Marburg
Abstract: 
While it is well established that individuals and groups make different economic decisions, the reasons for the behavioral differences are still not fully understood. We experimentally compare individual and group behavior in a competitive setting where cheating can be used to outperform the competitor. Our design allows us to exogenously control for the type of the decision maker, the type of the competitor, and expectations about the competitor's performance. The results show that there is much more cheating in inter-group competition than inter-individual competition which is in line with findings from other interactive games. We show furthermore that this difference is not caused by a higher propensity to cheat of groups per se, but instead by expectations about the competitor. Once we control for the type of the competitor and the decision makers' expectations, we no longer find differences between individuals and groups.
Subjects: 
individual behavior
group behavior
lying
honesty
competition
JEL: 
C91
D63
H26
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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