Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/258940 
Year of Publication: 
2020
Series/Report no.: 
CEBI Working Paper Series No. 26/20
Publisher: 
University of Copenhagen, Department of Economics, Center for Economic Behavior and Inequality (CEBI), Copenhagen
Abstract: 
People are less likely to make moral decisions when they are in groups. I study when this phenomenon makes groups less likely to produce a morally desirable outcome than one individual alone. I formulate and test a model in which a moral outcome occurs if at least one individual makes a costly decision. Using a lab experiment and data from field experiments on the bystander effect, I show that if most individuals are moral, the moral outcome is more likely to be produced by one individual, whereas if most individuals are immoral, it is more likely to be produced by a group. This rule is not only useful for reconciling previous mixed evidence on moral decisions in groups, but may also be applied to better design organizations and institutions.
Subjects: 
moral behavior
group size
bystander effect
social preferences
JEL: 
C92
D64
D90
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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