DP7634 Can we infer social preferences from the lab? Evidence from the trust game

Author(s):	Nicole M. Baran, Paola Sapienza, Luigi Zingales
Publication Date:	January 2010
Keyword(s):	Donation, Field and lab experiments, Reciprocity
JEL(s):	C9, D64, H41
Programme Areas:	Public Economics, Industrial Organization
Link to this Page:	cepr.org/active/publications/discussion_papers/dp.php?dpno=7634

We show that a measure of reciprocity derived from the Berg et al. (1995) trust game in a laboratory setting predicts the reciprocal behavior of the same subjects in a real-world situation. By using the Crowne and Marlowe (1960) social desirability scale, we do not find any evidence that a desire to conform to social norms distorts results in the lab, yet we do find evidence that it affects results in the field.