Publications

2008
Working Paper

Dirty Work, Clean Hands: The Moral Psychology of Indirect Agency

By: Neeru Paharia, Karim S. Kassam, Joshua D. Greene and Max H. Bazerman

When powerful people cause harm, they often do so indirectly through other people. Are harmful actions carried out through others evaluated less negatively than harmful actions carried out directly? Four experiments examine the moral psychology of indirect agency.... View Details

Keywords: Judgments; Ethics; Moral Sensibility; Behavior; Motivation and Incentives; Power and Influence

10 Oct 2007
First Look

First Look: First Look: October 10

announcement, served as a credible commitment to the government's privatization agenda. Download the paper from SSRN ($5): http://papers.nber.org/papers/w13427 Mental Accounting and Small Windfalls: Evidence from an Online Grocer Authors:Katherine L. Milkman, John... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

January 2021
Article

Veil-of-Ignorance Reasoning Mitigates Self-Serving Bias in Resource Allocation During the COVID-19 Crisis

By: Karen Huang, Regan Bernhard, Netta Barak-Corren, Max Bazerman and Joshua D. Greene

The COVID-19 crisis has forced healthcare professionals to make tragic decisions concerning which patients to save. Furthermore, the COVID-19 crisis has foregrounded the influence of self-serving bias in debates on how to allocate scarce resources. A utilitarian... View Details

Keywords: Self-serving Bias; Procedural Justice; Bioethics; COVID-19; Fairness; Health Pandemics; Resource Allocation; Decision Making

07 Oct 2008
First Look

First Look: October 7, 2008

the Vegetables Later: A Study of Online Grocery Purchases and Order Lead Time (revised) Authors:Katherine L. Milkman, Todd Rogers, and Max H. Bazerman Abstract How do decisions... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

Forthcoming
Chapter

Intermediation and Diffusion of Responsibility in Negotiation: A Case of Bounded Ethicality

By: Neeru Paharia, Lucas Clayton Coffman and Max Bazerman

This article compares direct deception with deception via an intermediary in the bargaining context. It describes a growing experimental literature that suggests how perceived ethics surrounding transactions with multiple partners can encourage misbehavior. It is noted... View Details

Keywords: Negotiation Process; Ethics

Purchase

February 2009
Article

Goals Gone Wild: The Systematic Side Effects of Over-Prescribing Goal Setting

By: Lisa D. Ordonez, Maurice E. Schweitzer, Adam D. Galinsky and Max H. Bazerman

Goal setting is one of the most replicated and influential paradigms in the management literature. Hundreds of studies conducted in numerous countries and contexts have consistently demonstrated that setting specific, challenging goals can powerfully drive behavior and... View Details

Keywords: Goals and Objectives; Management Practices and Processes; Organizational Culture; Performance Improvement; Behavior; Motivation and Incentives

May 2008
Journal Article

Future Lock-in: Future Implementation Increases Selection of 'Should' Choices

By: Todd Rogers and Max Bazerman

People often experience tension over certain choices (e.g., they should reduce their gas consumption or increase their savings, but they do not want to). Some posit that this tension arises from the competing interests of a deliberative “should” self and an affective... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Research; Behavior; Conflict of Interests

19 Dec 2006
First Look

First Look: December 19, 2006

of all organizational units. Download working paper: http://www.hbs.edu/research/pdf/07-030.pdf Future Lock-in: Or, I'll Agree to do the Right Thing Next Week Authors:Todd Rogers and Max H. View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

2022
Chapter

Redirecting Rawlsian Reasoning Toward the Greater Good

By: Joshua D. Greene, Karen Huang and Max Bazerman

In A Theory of Justice, John Rawls employed the ‘veil of Ignorance’ as a moral reasoning device designed to promote impartial thinking. By imagining the choices of decision-makers who are blind to biasing information, one might see more clearly the organizing... View Details

Keywords: Moral Sensibility; Judgments; Prejudice and Bias; Decision Making

14 Nov 2006
First Look

First Look: November 14, 2006

Caruso, and Max H. Bazerman Periodical:Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 91, no. 5 (November 2006): 872-889 Abstract Group members often reason egocentrically,... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

28 Apr 2009
First Look

First Look: April 28, 2009

Working PapersNo Harm, No Foul: The Outcome Bias in Ethical Judgments (revised) Authors:Francesca Gino, Don A. Moore, and Max H. Bazerman Abstract We present six studies... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

10 Jan 2012
First Look

First Look: January 10

http://www.hbs.edu/research/pdf/11-095.pdf Working PapersBehavioral Ethics: Toward a Deeper Understanding of Moral Judgment and Dishonesty Authors:Max H. Bazerman and Francesca Gino Abstract Early research... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

July 2009
Journal Article

Dirty Work, Clean Hands: The Moral Psychology of Indirect Agency

By: Neeru Paharia, Karim Kassam, Joshua Greene and Max Bazerman

When powerful people cause harm, they often do so indirectly through other people. Are harmful actions carried out through others evaluated less negatively than harmful actions carried out directly? Four experiments examine the moral psychology of indirect agency.... View Details

Keywords: Judgments; Ethics; Moral Sensibility; Behavior; Motivation and Incentives; Power and Influence

December 2007
Article

On the Robustness of the Winner's Curse Phenomenon

By: B. Grosskopf, Yoella Bereby-Meyer and M. H. Bazerman

We set out to find ways to help decision makers overcome the "winner's curse," a phenomenon commonly observed in asymmetric information bargaining situations, and instead found strong support for its robustness. In a series of manipulations of the "Acquiring a Company... View Details

October–December 2015
Article

Reducing Bounded Ethicality: How to Help Individuals Notice and Avoid Unethical Behavior

By: Ting Zhang, Pinar O. Fletcher, Francesca Gino and Max H. Bazerman

Research on ethics has focused on the factors that help individuals act ethically when they are tempted to cheat. However, we know little about how best to help individuals notice unethical behaviors in others and in themselves. This paper identifies a solution:... View Details

Keywords: Ethics; Management Skills; Behavior; Perception