Self-Interest through Delegation: An Additional Rationale for the Principal-Agent Relationship
通过三个实验室实验，发现委托人通过雇佣代理人做出分配决策，可以避免直接承担自私或不道德行为的责任，从而获得更多利益。
Principal-agent relationships are typically assumed to be motivated by efficiency gains from comparative advantage. However, principals may also delegate tasks to avoid taking direct responsibility for selfish or unethical behavior. We report three laboratory experiments in which principals repeatedly either decide how much money to share with a recipient or hire agents to make sharing decisions on their behalf. Across several experimental treatments, recipients receive significantly less, and in many cases close to nothing, when allocation decisions are made by agents.