FSS-DECO Seminar: The Anatomy of Honesty: Lying Aversion vs. Deception Aversion
Speaker: Prof. Wooyoung LIM, Department Head and Professor, Department of Economics, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, China
Date: 8 April 2026 (Wednesday)
Time: 14:00-15:15
Venue: E21B-G002
Language: English
Abstract: This paper experimentally dissects the preferences for honesty into two components: lying aversion and deception aversion. For a separate identification, we consider two reputation-building environments with a two-dimensional belief domain, where lying without deception occurs in one environment and deception without lying occurs in the other environment as a unique equilibrium phenomenon. The choice data combined with belief data collected in the lab enable us to differentiate between individuals’ aversion to making statements that are literally untrue (lying aversion) and their aversion to statements intended to manipulate others’ beliefs (deception aversion), excluding other plausible explanations such as erroneous inferences and misunderstanding.
