Speaker: Dietmar Fehr (U Stuttgart)

Title: The Bandits’ Dilemma: Taking From One Versus Taking From Many (with A. Cappelen, I. Haaland, E. Sørensen and B. Tungodden)

When: Monday, 19 May 2025, 11:30 am – 13:00 pm

Where: Oskar-Morgenstern-Platz, lecture hall 5 (ground floor) (map)

Abstract:

We investigate whether people morally justify small, dispersed harm more than concentrated, significant harm. Using a real-stakes-taking decision within a nationally representative panel study, we show that participants prefer taking small amounts from many victims over taking a larger amount from one. We present multiple sources of evidence that this behavior is not driven by traditional utilitarian arguments, revealing instead that people perceive dispersed harm as less morally significant. We validate this finding by relating the decision to disperse harm among many to attitudes toward tax evasion.