Dishonesty and public employment

Cruces, Guillermo; Rossi, Martin; Schargrodsky, Ernesto

Abstract

We exploit a natural experiment to study the causal link between dishonest behavior and public employment. When military conscription was mandatory in Argentina, eligibility was determined by both a lottery and a medical examination. To avoid conscription, individuals at risk of being drafted had strong incentives to cheat in their medical examination. These incentives varied with the lottery number. Exploiting this exogenous variation, we first present evidence of cheating in medical examinations. We then show that individuals with a higher probability of having cheated in health checks exhibit a higher propensity to occupy non-meritocratic public sector jobs later in life.

Citation

Cruces, G., Rossi, M., & Schargrodsky, E. (2023). Dishonesty and public employment. American Economic Review: Insights, 5(4), 511-526. https://doi.org/10.1257/aeri.20220550

• Journal Article Type: Review
• Acceptance Date: Oct 20, 2023
• Publication Date: 2023-12
• Deposit Date: Oct 20, 2023
• Publicly Available Date: Nov 29, 2023
• Journal: American Economic Review: Insights
• Print ISSN: 2640-205X
• Electronic ISSN: 2640-2068
• Publisher: American Economic Association
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 5
• Issue: 4
• Pages: 511-526
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1257/aeri.20220550
• Keywords: Conscription; public employment; state capacities; dishonesty; impressionable years.
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/26261517
• Publisher URL: https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/aeri.20220550&&from=f