Title: High Social Status Induces Prosocial Behavior  

Speaker:Jindi Zheng
Abstract: Does a high social status make people more generous? Using a laboratory experiment, I generate social status (either randomly or earned) and compare prosocial behavior between people with high and low status. In a novel one-shot, two-player, two-stage game, a high-status subject is paired with a low-status subject to determine joint production. Player 1 gives a nonbinding advice a to player 2, suggesting an effort level for player 2. Player 2 learns about a and determines the actual effort for both players. Total effort is constant and it is costly to exert effort. Deviation from the advice causes a loss in the team payoff. Results show that prosocial behavior is status-specific: 1) High-status subjects are less selfish than their low-status counterparts. 2) When status is earned, there are even fewer selfish players 2 with high status; moreover, they deviate less from the advice such that less efficiency is lost. (JEL Codes: I21; I24; J13; J24; O15)

Jindi Zheng：Jindi Zheng, assistant professor from Institute for Social and Economic Research (ISER) at Nanjing Audit University. Her research of interests lie in Behavioral and Experimental Economics, more specifically, how social identity is influencing our daily economic behaviors. Her projects talk about how social status shapes social preference, how social distance distorts bribery behavior, and peer wage comparison at workplace.

Date: May 3rd, Thursday, 2018

Time: 12:30-15:45 PM

Location: Room 608, Academic Hall, CUFE