| By: |
Christiane Schwieren (Sonderforschungsbereich 504, University of Mannheim, Germany);
Doris Weichselbaumer (Department of Economics, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Austria) |
| Abstract: |
In this paper we experimentally test whether competing for a desired reward
does not only affect individuals’ performance, but also their tendency to
cheat. Recent doping scandals in sports as well as forgery and plagiarism
scandals in academia have been partially explained by „competitive pressures“,
which suggests a link between competition and cheating. In our experiment
subjects conduct a task where they have the possibility to make use of
illegitimate tools to better their results. We find that women react much
stronger to competitive pressure by increasing their cheating activity while
there is no overall sex difference in cheating. However, the effect of
competition on women’s cheating behavior is entirely due to the fact that
women, on average, are doing worse with respect to the assigned task. Indeed
we find that it is the ability of an individual to conduct a particular task
and not sex that crucially affects the reaction to competition. Poor
performers significantly increase their cheating behavior under competition
which may be a face-saving strategy or an attempt to retain a chance of
winning. |
| Keywords: |
competition; tournament; piece rate; cheating; experiment |
| JEL: |
C91 J24 J31 M52 |
| Date: |
2008–01 |
| URL: |
http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:jku:econwp:2008_01&r=spo |