The effect of observing multiple private information outcomes on the inclination to cheat

Abstract

We investigate how the inclination to cheat changes when agents report the result of multiple realizations of a (private information) stochastic event rather than a single outcome. Multiple realizations render extreme outcomes unlikely, facilitating the identification of opportunistic behaviors and exposing to reputation concerns the individuals who report them. Consequently, multiple realizations lead to a significant reduction of cheating by large amounts. Simultaneously multiple realizations also diminish the intrinsic cost of lying, thereby inducing a widespread inclination to adjust upward the observed outcome in a plausible manner. The overall effect is only a marginal decrease in the degree of cheating.