禀赋来源和框架影响人们的分配行为吗——基于Dictator game的实验研究

Does the Sources of Endowment and Frameworks Affect People's Distribution Behavior:Experimental Research Based on Dictator Game

文章运用Dictator game将禀赋的来源和不同的框架结合起来,研究这两种因素对人们分配行为的共同影响。禀赋的来源是指通过努力或者运气得到初始禀赋,不同的框架是指根据Dictator分配自己挣得的禀赋或者分配接受者挣得的禀赋,分为给予和拿取两个不同的框架。实验结果表明:1)禀赋的来源对人们的分配行为存在显著的影响; 2)在通过努力挣得初始禀赋的情况下,强化了人们应得权利的意识,从而激发了框架对人们分配行为的影响;在靠运气得到初始禀赋的情况下,并没有这种强化作用,从而框架的影响并不显著。实验结果论证了微观行为会受社会情境的影响,即微观个体是受社会因素影响的适度社会化的人。另一方面,实验结果揭示了相对运气挣得的财富,人们更加认可通过努力挣得的财富,即在分配问题上人们更倾向于支持机会平等,更加支持勤劳致富。

In this paper,we combine the source of endowment with different frameworks and use dictator game to study the joint effects of these tw o factors on people＇s distribution behavior. The source of endow ment refers to endow ments are earned by effort or luck. According to the endow ments earned by the dictator or recipient,it can be divided into tw o different framew orks-giving and taking. The experimental results show that： 1） the source of endow ment has a significant impact on people＇s distribution behavior; 2） When endow ments are earned by effort,it reinforces the aw areness of people ＇s entitlements,thus it stimulates the impact of the framew ork on people ＇s distribution behavior; w hen endow ments are earned by luck,there is no such reinforcement,also the impact of the framew ork is not significant. The experimental results demonstrate that the micro-behavior is affected by social context,in other w ords,the micro-individual is a moderately socialized person affected by social factors. Secondly,the experimental results reveal that compared w ith the w ealth earned by luck,people are more respectful of the w ealth earned by the effort,i. e. people tend to support equality of opportunity w ith respect to the distribution problem,that is,comparing w ith the w ealth earned by luck,people are more supportive of obtaining w ealth through effort. Comparing w ith the previous literatures,this paper might have tw o potential contributions. First,in the existing studies on dictator game,some studies separately focus on the impact of the framew orks on people ＇s distribution behavior,w hile some studies separately focus on the influence of the sources of endow ment on people＇s distribution behavior. There are few studies combining these tw o factors. How ever,it is very important and necessary to combine these tw o factors. Because there are some controversial about w hether the framew ork affects people＇s distribution behavior in existing studies. By comparing these studies,w e believe that w hether the framew ork affects people＇s behavior is related to the context in w hich people are located. So in this paper,the source of endow ment that earned by effort or luck and different framew orks including giving framew ork and taking framew ork are combined and both are introduced into the experimental design. Thus tw o experimental contexts are set up,one is the context of effort that strengthens the aw areness of people＇s entitlement,and the other is the context of luck that strengthens the endow ment coming from heaven. By analyzing the impact of different framew orks on people＇s distribution behavior in these tw o contexts,the previous studies might be extended,and people＇s distribution behaviors are studied from more dimensions. Second,w e use experimental economics to verify w hether people tend to support equality of opportunity in the distribution issues,that is,w hether people are more supportive of obtaining w ealth through effort. Income inequality is an issue that the state and people have been paying attention to for a long time. Inequality of opportunity is the main cause of income inequality. And it is also a key factor in increasing people＇s sense of injustice and social instability. Therefore,it is very important to study inequality of opportunity. In this paper,w e can compare the distribution of the participants in the context of effort and luck to analyze w hether the endow ments are earned by effort is more recognized than the endow ments are earned by luck,that is,w hether people are more inclined to support equality of opportunity. Thus,from the empirical point of view,the studies on the distribution of fairness are enriched.