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Confucianism and Preferences: Evidence from Lab Experiments in Taiwan and China

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  • Liu, Elaine M.

    (University of Houston)

  • Meng, Juanjuan

    (Peking University)

  • Wang, Joseph Tao-yi

    (National Taiwan University)

Abstract

This paper investigates how Confucianism affects individual decision making in Taiwan and in China. We found that Chinese subjects in our experiments became less accepting of Confucian values, such that they became significantly more risk loving, less loss averse, and more impatient after being primed with Confucianism, whereas Taiwanese subjects became significantly less present-based and were inclined to be more trustworthy after being primed by Confucianism. Combining the evidence from the incentivized laboratory experiments and subjective survey measures, we found evidence that Chinese subjects and Taiwanese subjects reacted differently to Confucianism.

Suggested Citation

  • Liu, Elaine M. & Meng, Juanjuan & Wang, Joseph Tao-yi, 2013. "Confucianism and Preferences: Evidence from Lab Experiments in Taiwan and China," IZA Discussion Papers 7684, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp7684
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    Cited by:

    1. Taisuke Imai & Tom A Rutter & Colin F Camerer, 2021. "Meta-Analysis of Present-Bias Estimation using Convex Time Budgets," The Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 131(636), pages 1788-1814.
    2. Fang, Guanfu & Gao, Tiantian & He, Huanlang & Sun, Qian, 2023. "Public credit information arrangements and entrepreneurship: Evidence from China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    3. Kirk, H., 2019. "Cooperation and Creed: An Experimental Study of Religious Affiliation in Strategic and Societal Interactions," Cambridge Working Papers in Economics 1995, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge.
    4. David Oliver Kasdan, 2020. "Do Koreans like being nudged? Survey evidence for the contextuality of behavioral public policy," Rationality and Society, , vol. 32(3), pages 313-333, August.
    5. Wang, Shun & Zhou, Weina, 2017. "Family structure and home ownership: Evidence from China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 165-179.
    6. Hao, Jing & Wang, Ziqiao & Zhang, Xiaotao & He, Feng & Chen, Xuehong, 2024. "Culture imprint and gambling preference: Evidence from individual investors' trading in the Chinese stock market," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 60(C).
    7. Jiang, Shuguang & Wei, Qian, 2022. "Confucian culture, moral reminder, and soft corruption," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 98(C).
    8. Lin, Wanchuan & Liu, Yiming & Meng, Juanjuan, 2014. "The crowding-out effect of formal insurance on informal risk sharing: An experimental study," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 184-211.
    9. Alison Booth & Elliott Fan & Xin Meng & Dandan Zhang, 2019. "Gender Differences in Willingness to Compete: The Role of Culture and Institutions," The Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 129(618), pages 734-764.
    10. Jian Yang & Chaohua Dong & Yongjin Chen, 2021. "Government’s Economic Performance Fosters Trust in Government in China: Assessing the Moderating Effect of Respect for Authority," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 154(2), pages 545-558, April.
    11. Rui He & Jianjun Jin & Foyuan Kuang & Chenyang Zhang & Tong Guan, 2019. "Farmers’ Risk Cognition, Risk Preferences and Climate Change Adaptive Behavior: A Structural Equation Modeling Approach," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(1), pages 1-13, December.
    12. Lin, Hsuan-Chih & Tanaka, Atsuko & Wu, Po-Shyan, 2021. "Shifting from pay-as-you-go to individual retirement accounts: A path to a sustainable pension system," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    13. Li, Sherry Xin & de Oliveira, Angela C.M. & Eckel, Catherine, 2017. "Common identity and the voluntary provision of public goods: An experimental investigation," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 142(C), pages 32-46.
    14. Yongbo Ge & Xiaoran Kong & Geilegeilao Dadilabang & Kung‐Cheng Ho, 2023. "The effect of Confucian culture on household risky asset holdings: Using categorical principal component analysis," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 28(1), pages 839-857, January.
    15. Huynh, Toan L.D. & Rieger, Marc Oliver & Wang, Mei, 2022. "Cross-country comparison in dishonest behaviour: Germany and East Asian countries," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 215(C).
    16. James Andreoni & Charles Sprenger, 2015. "Risk Preferences Are Not Time Preferences: Reply," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 105(7), pages 2287-2293, July.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    social norm; Confucianism; time preferences; risk aversion; trust;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C91 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Laboratory, Individual Behavior
    • Z10 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - General

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