Institutions, shared guilt, and moral transgression

Arbeitspapier

We study how institutional design in influences moral transgression. People are heterogeneous in their feelings of guilt and can share guilt with others. Institutions determine the number of supporters necessary for immoral outcomes to occur. With more supporters required, every supporter can share guilt more easily. This facilitates becoming a supporter. Conversely, an institution requiring more supporters must rely on people who have higher individual moral standards. We analyze individual thresholds for agreeing to a transgression, depending on the available options for sharing guilt by institutional design. On the aggregate level, we study how institutions affect the likelihood of immoral outcomes.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: KIT Working Paper Series in Economics ; No. 47

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Microeconomic Behavior: Underlying Principles ; Organizational Behavior; Transaction Costs; Property Rights ; Equity, Justice, Inequality, and Other Normative Criteria and Measurement ; Asymmetric and Private Information; Mechanism Design
• Subject: Moral Decision Making ; Shared Guilt ; Group Absolution ; Diffused Responsibility ; Institutional Design ; Committee Decisions ; Moral Transgression

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Rothenhäusler, Dominik ; Schweizer, Nikolaus ; Szech, Nora
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): Karlsruher Institut für Technologie (KIT), Institut für Volkswirtschaftslehre (ECON)
• (where): Karlsruhe
• (when): 2013

Further information

• DOI: doi:10.5445/IR/1000036916
• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/87708
• URN: urn:nbn:de:swb:90-369168
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:46 AM CET