Do Professional Norms in the Banking Industry Favor Risk-taking?
通过实验操纵银行员工职业身份的凸显程度，测量其风险厌恶变化，发现职业身份凸显时员工反而更规避风险，挑战了职业规范鼓励冒险的普遍看法。
In recent years, the banking industry has witnessed several cases of excessive risk-taking that frequently have been attributed to problematic professional norms. We conduct experiments with employees from several banks in which we manipulate the saliency of their professional identity and subsequently measure their risk aversion in a real stakes investment task. If bank employees are exposed to professional norms that favor risk-taking, they should become more willing to take risks when their professional identity is salient. We find, however, that subjects take significantly less risk, challenging the view that the professional norms generally increase bank employees’ willingness to take risks. Received May 5, 2016; editorial decision August 21, 2016 by Editor Philip Strahan.