Can Official Rank Standard Affect Individuals ’ Behavior in China ? – A Framing Effect

Official rank standard is one of the rudimental elements in oriental value system. It is widely believed that this ideology significantly modify individuals’ behavior in China. However, behavioral or empirical examination has not been undertaken. In this paper, we design a controlled lab experiment to investigate this issue. Our results show that the Official rank standard will significantly influence the behavior for those subjects framed as “Official”, but not for those framed as “Common people”. Therefore, the society with Official rank standard will converge to a much more unfair status. Finally, we briefly discuss some possible transmission channels for Official rank standard.