It’s Time to Cheat! (co-hosted with the Economics Research Seminar Series) 

Abstract:

We run a laboratory experiment testing the correlation between time preferences and cheating at the individual level. In our experiment cheating increases the earnings of those who commit it and it only entails a moral cost for the cheater. Our hypothesis is that cheating is higher among individuals who attribute more importance to the present. We observe widespread cheating, and that cheating prevails among subjects who display present bias and overconfidence. Cheating is also negatively correlated with risk aversion and the discount factor, but only for men, while the impact of present bias seems to be stronger for women.

Natalia Montinari is Associate Professor at the Department of Economics, University of Bologna