TY  - JOUR
AU  - Dee,Thomas S
AU  - Jacob,Brian A.
TI  - Rational Ignorance in Education: A Field Experiment in Student Plagiarism
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 15672
PY  - 2010
Y2  - January 2010
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w15672
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w15672.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
Thomas Dee
Frank Batten School of Leadership & Public Policy
and Department of Economics
University of Virginia
235 McCormick Road
P.O. Box 400893
Charlottesville, VA 22903
Tel: 434/243-3731
Fax: 434/243-6858
E-Mail: dee@virginia.edu

Brian Jacob
Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy
University of Michigan
735 South State Street
Ann Arbor, MI 48109
Tel: 734-615-6994
Fax: NA
E-Mail: bajacob@umich.edu
AB  - Despite the concern that student plagiarism has become increasingly common, there is relatively little objective data on the prevalence or determinants of this illicit behavior. This study presents the results of a natural field experiment designed to address these questions. Over 1,200 papers were collected from the students in undergraduate courses at a selective post-secondary institution. Students in half of the participating courses were randomly assigned to a requirement that they complete an anti-plagiarism tutorial before submitting their papers. We found that assignment to the treatment group substantially reduced the likelihood of plagiarism, particularly among student with lower SAT scores who had the highest rates of plagiarism. A follow-up survey of participating students suggests that the intervention reduced plagiarism by increasing student knowledge rather than by increasing the perceived probabilities of detection and punishment. These results are consistent with a model of student behavior in which the decision to plagiarize reflects both a poor understanding of academic integrity and the perception that the probabilities of detection and severe punishment are low.
ER  -