Leader and villager behavior: Experimental evidence from Cameroon

We use an inter-village study in rural Cameroon to explore how behavior of local chiefs is associated with specific behavior of common villagers. Our key variables are based on the behavior of the chief and villagers in lab-in-the-field experiments. As measures of leadership quality we use trustworthiness of the chief as measured in a trust game. As measures of norms of civil conduct we use within-village altruism, trust and trustworthiness as measured in dictator and trust games. We mainly document negative associations between leader and villager behavior, which is consistent with the view that good leadership crowds out good behavior by villagers.