Three essays on risk attitudes and social image.

Summary This dissertation consists of an essay on the relationship between individuals' risk aversion and their migration decision and two essays on the importance of face saving and image reciprocity.The first essay uses a field experiment in China to investigate whether migration status is correlated with preferences for risk, ambiguity, and competitiveness. It shows that migrants and non-migrants do not differ in their preferences regarding risk and ambiguity in standard lotteries. In contrast, migrants have a more competitive attitude toward strategic uncertainty in a market entry game.The second test examines whether individuals are willing to sacrifice resources to save face by paying to avoid public exposure of their least productive group member using a real-effort laboratory experiment. The majority of individuals are willing to pay to preserve both their image and that of others. This result is robust to a manipulation of group identity. The ever-present sense of shame following public exposure crowds out intrinsic motivation.The third trial investigates the reward of benevolence and punishment of selfishness in terms of image. It shows that individuals reward benevolence and express reciprocity toward those who have preserved their image or that of another. In contrast, the selfishness of those who do not make an effort to save the face of others is not sanctioned.