TY  - RPRT
        AU  - Abeler, Johannes
AU  - Falk, Armin
AU  - Kosse, Fabian
        TI  - Malleability of Preferences for Honesty
        PY  - 2021/Apr/
        PB  - Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)
        CY  - Bonn
        T2  - IZA Discussion Paper
        IS  - 14304
        UR  - https://www.iza.org/index.php/publications/dp14304
        AB  - Reporting private information is a key part of economic decision making. A recent literature has found that many people have a preference for honest reporting, contrary to usual economic assumptions. In this paper, we investigate whether preferences for honesty are malleable and what determines them. We experimentally measure preferences for honesty in a sample of children. 
As our main result, we provide causal evidence on the effect of the social environment by randomly enrolling children in a year-long mentoring programme. We find that, about four years after the end of the programme, mentored children are significantly more honest.
        KW  - formation of preferences
KW  - truth-telling
KW  - lying
KW  - honesty
KW  - experiments with children
        ER  -