Social Preferences and Social Curiosity

Abstract

Social preferences have been implicated in many important economic behaviors. Building on Fehr and Schmidt (1999), we here investigate connections between social preferences and the demand for information about others’ economic decisions and outcomes, which we denote “social curiosity.” Using data from laboratory experiments with sequential public goods games, we estimate guilt and envy at the individual level, and examine their impact on social curiosity. We find that those with greater sensitivity to guilt display greater social curiosity. Further, we find that social curiosity is beneficial in that knowing others’ economic decisions and outcomes promotes cooperation and economic efficiency.

Keywords: Laboratory Experiment, Inequity Aversion, Social Curiosity, Information, Sequential Public Goods Game

JEL Classification: C91, D83, D91, H41