The quest for status is a powerful motivator, but does it affect inequality? This paper presents a novel lab experiment that was designed and conducted to identify the relationship between conspicuous consumption, access to credit, and inequality. We report four main findings: First, consumption...

Cronyism in firms arises when favoritism toward an ingroup affects personnel decisions. Two main motives underlie cronyism: profit, if an ingroup employee works harder; or altruism, if used to transfer resources. In a lab-experiment trust game with naturally-occurring groups, an employer...

Protecting employee whistle-blowers is important, as this is a significant source of uncovering wrongdoing, both for public, and private organizations. How whistle-blowers make decisions is complex, and potential whistle-blowers may not have complete information on the strategies that are chosen...

The quest for status is a powerful motivator, but does it affect inequality? This paper presents a novel lab experiment that was designed and conducted to identify the relationship between inequality, status signaling, debt, and conspicuous consumption. It reports three main findings: First,...

Transgender individuals face high levels of discrimination including in healthcare. Lack of adequate legal protections can exacerbate the problem in developing countries. At the same time, low-cost private clinics can mitigate discriminatory practices due to the costs of discrimination. We...

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, this paper investigates the effect of a shift in social/religious norms on compliance behaviour. Religion-based norms of behaviour have the potential to counteract newly established norms of health-preserving behaviours. One such event occurred during the...

Do crackdowns on bribery exacerbate corruption in the long run? In this paper, we observe the long-run impact of a short-term punishment institution (i.e. a crackdown) on bribery. We conduct lab experiments in two countries with cultures that differ in corruption norms, and have very different...