Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/224581 
Year of Publication: 
2020
Series/Report no.: 
Beiträge zur Jahrestagung des Vereins für Socialpolitik 2020: Gender Economics
Publisher: 
ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, Kiel, Hamburg
Abstract: 
We conduct a laboratory experiment to explore whether loss aversion applies to social image concerns. First, subjects are ranked publicly in a social image relevant domain, an IQ test, to establish own rank as a within-subject reference point. We then induce an exogenous change in within-subject rank and offer scope for lying about it to test whether subjects whose rank exogenously deteriorates (loss in social image) lie more than those who experience an equally-sized gain in rank (gain in social image). We find evidence for loss aversion in social image concerns, however, only for subjects who strongly care about their social image and have reputation to lose (high initial reference point).
Subjects: 
loss aversion
social image concerns
lying behavior
laboratory experiment
JEL: 
C91
D91
Document Type: 
Conference Paper

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