Co-authored Paper by Professor Niu Xiaofei Officially Published in Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization
Recently, the co-authored paper Power distance and dishonest behavior by Professor Niu Xiaofei from the School of Economics and the Institute for the Study of Brain-Like Economics, Shandong University, was officially published in Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, an international economics journal. Associate Professor Cao Qian from the School of Business Administration, Nanjing University of Finance & Economics, Professor Li Jianbiao and Associate Researcher Zhu Chengkang from the School of Economics and the Institute for the Study of Brain-Like Economics, Shandong University, are co-first authors and co-corresponding authors.
Dishonesty has long been a hot research topic in behavioral economics and experimental economics. Most existing literature studies the correlation between culture and dishonesty at the national level, but little is known about the impact of individual-level cultural values on dishonest behavior. Accordingly, from the perspective of individual cultural values, this paper experimentally examines the impact of power distance on dishonest behavior. Power distance was first proposed by Dutch psychologist and management scientist Geert Hofstede in 1984, referring to the extent to which people accept unequal power distribution. People with high power distance are more willing to accept unequal power distribution, while those with low power distance have lower tolerance for unequal power distribution.
This paper designs a series of experiments to examine the correlation and causality between power distance at the national and individual levels and dishonest behavior, as well as the internal mechanism through which power distance affects dishonest behavior. The study finds that power distance at both the individual and national levels is significantly negatively correlated with dishonest behavior, and subjects in the high power distance manipulation group exhibit significantly more dishonest behavior than those in the low power distance manipulation group. This indicates that power distance is not only correlated with dishonest behavior but also causally affects individual dishonest behavior. Further research finds that social norms are an internal mechanism through which power distance affects dishonest behavior. This paper reveals the role of individual cultural values (i.e., power distance) in dishonest behavior.
Niu Xiaofei is a Professor (promoted by exception) and Ph.D. Supervisor, currently working at the School of Economics and the Institute for the Study of Brain-Like Economics, Shandong University. He is a Young Expert of Taishan Scholar Program in Shandong Province (selected by exception) and a Qilu Young Scholar of Shandong University. His research fields include neuroeconomics, neurofinance, behavioral and experimental economics. His research achievements have been published as first or corresponding author in top and authoritative international journals such as Management Science, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Experimental Economics, and Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization. He has presided over 1 youth project of the National Natural Science Foundation of China and 1 sub-project of a major project of the National Social Science Fund of China.
Original link:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167268125000034#sec0023
