... We thank Larry Alexander, Lauren Edelman, Bryant Garth, Christine Parker, Gideon Parchomovsky... more ... We thank Larry Alexander, Lauren Edelman, Bryant Garth, Christine Parker, Gideon Parchomovsky, Mark Schuman, Susan Sturm, Fred Zacharias, and the participants of the ... 14 Richard Lacayo & Amanda Ripley, Persons of the Year 2002, TIME MAGAZINE, December 30, 2002. ...
Social enforcement, the decentralized action by organizational actors of monitoring, identifying,... more Social enforcement, the decentralized action by organizational actors of monitoring, identifying, and reporting legal violations, is widely recognized as a key factor in ensuring good governance. This article reports on a study conducted in the United States and Israel examining the behavior of individuals when confronting unlawful conduct within their workplaces. The study provides novel insights into the relationships between state-based, organizational-based, and employee-based enforcement. It finds that the likelihood and the manner of reporting will vary depending on the type of illegality and is strongly correlated to perceptions of legitimacy, job security, and voice within the workplace. Comparing illegalities, employees prefer to report clear violations by rank-and-file employees rather than violations by managers. At the same time, external reporting to government or media entities is most likely when violations involve the organization as a whole or implicates top management. The study also finds cultural and gender differences in reporting patterns. Finally, the study demonstrates that social norms are more predictive of social enforcement than expected organizational costs.
ABSTRACT How can regulation in an era of personal responsibility aid people to make the optimal d... more ABSTRACT How can regulation in an era of personal responsibility aid people to make the optimal decisions about their future risks, savings, and retirement? This study aims to deepen our understanding of how different age groups process choices in relation to future risk and retirement planning in diverse decision-making environments. In a series of experiments, we examine how age and the life cycle interact with the decision-making environment concerning savings, retirement and well-being. Across multiple experiments we find that when cognitive resources are available older participants opt for more prudent and future oriented financial and retirement choices, but that this pattern does not hold in situations that do not allow the luxury of executive control override. Moreover, in some instances, we find an increased effect of resource depletion for older compared to younger participants. At a theoretical level our findings suggest that much of the difference in financial choices between older and younger decision makers rests in the ability of each age group to override their intuitive and automatic responses to such decisions. At the policy level, as the regulatory field is moving from command-and-control rules to the provision of menu options and choice architecture, our findings provide potential guidelines for better designing retirement and savings plans, such as the implementation of SMT-style programs and the encouragement of annuity over lump sum retirement benefits.
This article demonstrates experimentally that individuals making decisions about their health man... more This article demonstrates experimentally that individuals making decisions about their health management are affected by the decision making environment and that law and policy can serve important roles in improving the decision environment. With the support of a generous grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, we conducted two series of experiments. First a lab experiment with approximately 700 respondents and next a web-based experiment with over 3000 respondents, including 300 medical doctors. In each of the experiments, in addition to manipulating the decision making environment and choice sets, we manipulated the state of the decision maker. In the first series of experiments we used the psychological mechanism of cognitive depletion and in the second series we tested the effects of cognitive overload. Most broadly, unlike past measures of risk aversion, our studies demonstrate that preferences for risk are not fixed in an individual but rather are highly sensitive to the role, context, and state of the decision maker in patterned ways. The project provides new evidence that cognitive processes affect decision making and judgment of risk, often leading to medically suboptimal choices. The lab studies suggest that often people process risk sub-optimally, e.g. favoring potentially harmful omissions over less harmful acts and being influenced by the order of warnings or choices, rather than their substantive value.
Traditional economic models view post-employment restrictions as necessary constraints stemming f... more Traditional economic models view post-employment restrictions as necessary constraints stemming from the assumption that absent such contractual protections, employers would under-invest in R&D and employee training. This article enriches the analysis of human capital investment by developing a dyadic-dynamic investment model, adding both a behavioral dimension of constrained individuals and the aggregate dimension of mobility over time. The article reports original experimental research demonstrating that contractual background affects motivation and performance. The findings reveal that when tasks involve pure effort and are relatively easy to perform, individuals will abandon the tasks at higher rates, spend less time on task, and overwhelmingly more frequently fail to find the correct solution when bound by post-employment restrictions. At the same time, the findings reveal that with tasks that invoke internal talent and creativity rather than pure effort some of these effects, including time on task and quality of performance, largely disappear. Significant gaps in task completion remain even for more creative tasks. The article links recent empirical evidence about positive spillovers with a behavioral analysis that suggests further positive effects, together offering a richer understanding of the costs and benefits of post-employment contractual and regulatory restrictions.
This chapter presents a unique perspective on whistleblowing, combining behavioral and organizati... more This chapter presents a unique perspective on whistleblowing, combining behavioral and organizational perspectives of employee motivation to engage in social enforcement. The chapter is based on a series of experimental studies conducted by the collaborators. In our studies, we analyze the interactions among several types of factors. First, we describe cultural differences and the ways a country"s attitude and history affect decisions to blow the whistle. Second, we systemically show complex motivations in the decision to report misconduct, including both intrinsic and extrinsic factors. Third, our experiments provide unique insights about the design of the law and the various incentives it can offer to support social enforcement. The studies improve our understanding of the costs and benefits of different regulatory systems and the inadvertent counterproductive effects of certain legal incentives. Based on these studies, the chapter explores the comparative advantages of various incentive structures and aim for a better fit between regulatory design and organizational and individual motivation, not only in compliance as many of the other chapters in this volume suggest but also in reporting the incompliance of others.
Social enforcement, the decentralized action by organizational actors of monitoring, identifying,... more Social enforcement, the decentralized action by organizational actors of monitoring, identifying, and reporting legal violations, is widely recognized as a key factor in ensuring good governance. This article reports on an experimental survey conducted in the US and Israel examining the behavior of individuals when confronting workplace unlawful conduct. The study provides novel insights into the relationships between state based, organization based, and employee based enforcement. It finds that the likelihood and the manner of reporting will vary depending on the type of illegality and are strongly correlated to perceptions of legitimacy, job security, and voice within the workplace. Comparing illegalities, employees prefer to report clear violations by rank and file employees rather than violations by managers. At the same time, external reporting to government or media entities is most likely when violations involve the organization as a whole or implicate top management. The study also finds cultural and gender differences in reporting patterns. Finally, the study provides support for the understanding that social norms are more predictive of social enforcement than expected organizational costs.
The study investigated gender discriminatory behavior from a developmental perspective by examini... more The study investigated gender discriminatory behavior from a developmental perspective by examining 3 age groups: early adolescents, late adolescents, and young adults. In addition the study investigated the relationship between self-perception of traditionally masculine and feminine characteristics and gender discriminatory behavior across these 3 age groups. We predicted that due to gender intensification and conformity, that are characteristics of adolescence, adolescents would evidence greater gender discriminatory behavior than young adults. Early and late adolescent males and young adult males (n = 3233) were given a description of either an average or outstanding male candidate behaving stereotypically or counter-stereotypically and were asked to indicate their personal election choice, the likelihood that others would choose each candidate and how successful he would be should he be elected. They were also asked to indicate their affinity and perceived similarity to the candidate. In addition, they completed an adapted form of the BSRI [Bem (1974). J. , measuring their self-perception of traditionally masculine and feminine characteristics. As predicted, adolescents exhibited greater discriminatory behavior than young adults. No differences were found between the 2 stages of adolescence. In addition, feminine males evidenced less discriminatory behavior towards the counter-stereotypic male than the other gender role groups. The results are discussed within the framework of developmental changes.
This collection brings together the research and reflections of a diverse international mix of ac... more This collection brings together the research and reflections of a diverse international mix of academics, activists and practitioners in the fields of fair trade and corporate accountability, representing perspectives from both the industrialized and developing worlds. ...
Contemporary Sociology: A Journal of Reviews, 2005
How the Other Half Works solves the riddle of America's contemporary immigra... more How the Other Half Works solves the riddle of America's contemporary immigration puzzle: why an increasingly high-tech society has use for so many immigrants who lack the basic skills that today's economy seems to demand. In clear and engaging style, Waldinger and Lichter isolate the key factors that explain the presence of unskilled immigrants in our midst. Focusing on Los Angeles, the capital of today's immigrant America, this hard-hitting book elucidates the other side of the new economy, showing that hiring is finding not so much" ...
Copyright (c) 2007 Chicago-Kent College of Law and Workplace Fairness Employee Rights and Employm... more Copyright (c) 2007 Chicago-Kent College of Law and Workplace Fairness Employee Rights and Employment Policy Journal. 2007. 11 Empl. Rts. & Employ. Pol'y J. 111. LENGTH: 12357 words NEW WAYS OF GOVERNING THE ...
This Roundtable focuses on a number of different, but potentially convergent efforts to rethink t... more This Roundtable focuses on a number of different, but potentially convergent efforts to rethink the ways in which law, social science, and policy connect with one another. In particular, Roundtable participants ask what New Legal Realism might have in common with the microanalysis ...
... We thank Larry Alexander, Lauren Edelman, Bryant Garth, Christine Parker, Gideon Parchomovsky... more ... We thank Larry Alexander, Lauren Edelman, Bryant Garth, Christine Parker, Gideon Parchomovsky, Mark Schuman, Susan Sturm, Fred Zacharias, and the participants of the ... 14 Richard Lacayo & Amanda Ripley, Persons of the Year 2002, TIME MAGAZINE, December 30, 2002. ...
Social enforcement, the decentralized action by organizational actors of monitoring, identifying,... more Social enforcement, the decentralized action by organizational actors of monitoring, identifying, and reporting legal violations, is widely recognized as a key factor in ensuring good governance. This article reports on a study conducted in the United States and Israel examining the behavior of individuals when confronting unlawful conduct within their workplaces. The study provides novel insights into the relationships between state-based, organizational-based, and employee-based enforcement. It finds that the likelihood and the manner of reporting will vary depending on the type of illegality and is strongly correlated to perceptions of legitimacy, job security, and voice within the workplace. Comparing illegalities, employees prefer to report clear violations by rank-and-file employees rather than violations by managers. At the same time, external reporting to government or media entities is most likely when violations involve the organization as a whole or implicates top management. The study also finds cultural and gender differences in reporting patterns. Finally, the study demonstrates that social norms are more predictive of social enforcement than expected organizational costs.
ABSTRACT How can regulation in an era of personal responsibility aid people to make the optimal d... more ABSTRACT How can regulation in an era of personal responsibility aid people to make the optimal decisions about their future risks, savings, and retirement? This study aims to deepen our understanding of how different age groups process choices in relation to future risk and retirement planning in diverse decision-making environments. In a series of experiments, we examine how age and the life cycle interact with the decision-making environment concerning savings, retirement and well-being. Across multiple experiments we find that when cognitive resources are available older participants opt for more prudent and future oriented financial and retirement choices, but that this pattern does not hold in situations that do not allow the luxury of executive control override. Moreover, in some instances, we find an increased effect of resource depletion for older compared to younger participants. At a theoretical level our findings suggest that much of the difference in financial choices between older and younger decision makers rests in the ability of each age group to override their intuitive and automatic responses to such decisions. At the policy level, as the regulatory field is moving from command-and-control rules to the provision of menu options and choice architecture, our findings provide potential guidelines for better designing retirement and savings plans, such as the implementation of SMT-style programs and the encouragement of annuity over lump sum retirement benefits.
This article demonstrates experimentally that individuals making decisions about their health man... more This article demonstrates experimentally that individuals making decisions about their health management are affected by the decision making environment and that law and policy can serve important roles in improving the decision environment. With the support of a generous grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, we conducted two series of experiments. First a lab experiment with approximately 700 respondents and next a web-based experiment with over 3000 respondents, including 300 medical doctors. In each of the experiments, in addition to manipulating the decision making environment and choice sets, we manipulated the state of the decision maker. In the first series of experiments we used the psychological mechanism of cognitive depletion and in the second series we tested the effects of cognitive overload. Most broadly, unlike past measures of risk aversion, our studies demonstrate that preferences for risk are not fixed in an individual but rather are highly sensitive to the role, context, and state of the decision maker in patterned ways. The project provides new evidence that cognitive processes affect decision making and judgment of risk, often leading to medically suboptimal choices. The lab studies suggest that often people process risk sub-optimally, e.g. favoring potentially harmful omissions over less harmful acts and being influenced by the order of warnings or choices, rather than their substantive value.
Traditional economic models view post-employment restrictions as necessary constraints stemming f... more Traditional economic models view post-employment restrictions as necessary constraints stemming from the assumption that absent such contractual protections, employers would under-invest in R&D and employee training. This article enriches the analysis of human capital investment by developing a dyadic-dynamic investment model, adding both a behavioral dimension of constrained individuals and the aggregate dimension of mobility over time. The article reports original experimental research demonstrating that contractual background affects motivation and performance. The findings reveal that when tasks involve pure effort and are relatively easy to perform, individuals will abandon the tasks at higher rates, spend less time on task, and overwhelmingly more frequently fail to find the correct solution when bound by post-employment restrictions. At the same time, the findings reveal that with tasks that invoke internal talent and creativity rather than pure effort some of these effects, including time on task and quality of performance, largely disappear. Significant gaps in task completion remain even for more creative tasks. The article links recent empirical evidence about positive spillovers with a behavioral analysis that suggests further positive effects, together offering a richer understanding of the costs and benefits of post-employment contractual and regulatory restrictions.
This chapter presents a unique perspective on whistleblowing, combining behavioral and organizati... more This chapter presents a unique perspective on whistleblowing, combining behavioral and organizational perspectives of employee motivation to engage in social enforcement. The chapter is based on a series of experimental studies conducted by the collaborators. In our studies, we analyze the interactions among several types of factors. First, we describe cultural differences and the ways a country"s attitude and history affect decisions to blow the whistle. Second, we systemically show complex motivations in the decision to report misconduct, including both intrinsic and extrinsic factors. Third, our experiments provide unique insights about the design of the law and the various incentives it can offer to support social enforcement. The studies improve our understanding of the costs and benefits of different regulatory systems and the inadvertent counterproductive effects of certain legal incentives. Based on these studies, the chapter explores the comparative advantages of various incentive structures and aim for a better fit between regulatory design and organizational and individual motivation, not only in compliance as many of the other chapters in this volume suggest but also in reporting the incompliance of others.
Social enforcement, the decentralized action by organizational actors of monitoring, identifying,... more Social enforcement, the decentralized action by organizational actors of monitoring, identifying, and reporting legal violations, is widely recognized as a key factor in ensuring good governance. This article reports on an experimental survey conducted in the US and Israel examining the behavior of individuals when confronting workplace unlawful conduct. The study provides novel insights into the relationships between state based, organization based, and employee based enforcement. It finds that the likelihood and the manner of reporting will vary depending on the type of illegality and are strongly correlated to perceptions of legitimacy, job security, and voice within the workplace. Comparing illegalities, employees prefer to report clear violations by rank and file employees rather than violations by managers. At the same time, external reporting to government or media entities is most likely when violations involve the organization as a whole or implicate top management. The study also finds cultural and gender differences in reporting patterns. Finally, the study provides support for the understanding that social norms are more predictive of social enforcement than expected organizational costs.
The study investigated gender discriminatory behavior from a developmental perspective by examini... more The study investigated gender discriminatory behavior from a developmental perspective by examining 3 age groups: early adolescents, late adolescents, and young adults. In addition the study investigated the relationship between self-perception of traditionally masculine and feminine characteristics and gender discriminatory behavior across these 3 age groups. We predicted that due to gender intensification and conformity, that are characteristics of adolescence, adolescents would evidence greater gender discriminatory behavior than young adults. Early and late adolescent males and young adult males (n = 3233) were given a description of either an average or outstanding male candidate behaving stereotypically or counter-stereotypically and were asked to indicate their personal election choice, the likelihood that others would choose each candidate and how successful he would be should he be elected. They were also asked to indicate their affinity and perceived similarity to the candidate. In addition, they completed an adapted form of the BSRI [Bem (1974). J. , measuring their self-perception of traditionally masculine and feminine characteristics. As predicted, adolescents exhibited greater discriminatory behavior than young adults. No differences were found between the 2 stages of adolescence. In addition, feminine males evidenced less discriminatory behavior towards the counter-stereotypic male than the other gender role groups. The results are discussed within the framework of developmental changes.
This collection brings together the research and reflections of a diverse international mix of ac... more This collection brings together the research and reflections of a diverse international mix of academics, activists and practitioners in the fields of fair trade and corporate accountability, representing perspectives from both the industrialized and developing worlds. ...
Contemporary Sociology: A Journal of Reviews, 2005
How the Other Half Works solves the riddle of America's contemporary immigra... more How the Other Half Works solves the riddle of America's contemporary immigration puzzle: why an increasingly high-tech society has use for so many immigrants who lack the basic skills that today's economy seems to demand. In clear and engaging style, Waldinger and Lichter isolate the key factors that explain the presence of unskilled immigrants in our midst. Focusing on Los Angeles, the capital of today's immigrant America, this hard-hitting book elucidates the other side of the new economy, showing that hiring is finding not so much" ...
Copyright (c) 2007 Chicago-Kent College of Law and Workplace Fairness Employee Rights and Employm... more Copyright (c) 2007 Chicago-Kent College of Law and Workplace Fairness Employee Rights and Employment Policy Journal. 2007. 11 Empl. Rts. & Employ. Pol'y J. 111. LENGTH: 12357 words NEW WAYS OF GOVERNING THE ...
This Roundtable focuses on a number of different, but potentially convergent efforts to rethink t... more This Roundtable focuses on a number of different, but potentially convergent efforts to rethink the ways in which law, social science, and policy connect with one another. In particular, Roundtable participants ask what New Legal Realism might have in common with the microanalysis ...
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