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Honest on Mondays: Honesty and the temporal separation between decisions and payoffs

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  • Ruffle, Bradley J.
  • Tobol, Yossef

Abstract

We show that temporally distancing the decision task from the payment of the reward increases honest behavior. Each of 427 Israeli soldiers fulfilling their mandatory military service rolled a six-sided die in private and reported the outcome to the unit's cadet coordinator. For every point reported, the soldier received an additional half-hour early release from the army base on Thursday afternoon. Soldiers who participated on Sunday (the first work day of the week) are significantly more honest than those who participated later in the week. We derive practical implications for eliciting honesty.

Suggested Citation

  • Ruffle, Bradley J. & Tobol, Yossef, 2014. "Honest on Mondays: Honesty and the temporal separation between decisions and payoffs," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 126-135.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:eecrev:v:65:y:2014:i:c:p:126-135
    DOI: 10.1016/j.euroecorev.2013.11.004
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Experimental economics; Honesty; Temporal distance; Soldiers;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C93 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Field Experiments
    • D63 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Equity, Justice, Inequality, and Other Normative Criteria and Measurement

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