Behavioral Equity

The paper uses the findings of psychology, behavioral economics, and behavioral ethics to revisit three main related assumptions of the rational-choice approach to equity, by developing three main points: first, not only bad people try to circumvent the law; second, behavior depends on the relationship between specificity, trust, and the type of motivation triggered; and, third, moral priming has different effects on good and on bad people. Based on these three modifications of rational-choice assumptions about the law-versus-equity distinction, we offer a dynamic acoustic separation model that attempts to examine the effect of law versus equity on both good and bad people.