Don't patronize me! An experiment on preferences for authorship

Do people only reject interference and keep control to affect the outcome? We find that 20% of subjects reject unrequired help and insist on their solution to a problem—although doing so is costly and does not change the result. We tease out the motives by varying the information available to the in...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of economics & management strategy 2020-04, Vol.29 (2), p.420-438
Main Authors: Lübbecke, Silvia, Schnedler, Wendelin
Format: Article
Language:English
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Authorship
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Summary:Do people only reject interference and keep control to affect the outcome? We find that 20% of subjects reject unrequired help and insist on their solution to a problem—although doing so is costly and does not change the result. We tease out the motives by varying the information available to the interfering party (paternalist). Subjects do not resist to show to the paternalist that they were able to find the correct solution. Instead, two motives seem to play a role. First, subjects prefer to have produced or “authored” the solution themselves. Second, subjects desire to signal their authorship and hence their independence to the paternalist.
ISSN:1530-9134
1058-6407
1530-9134
DOI:10.1111/jems.12347