Empirical Analysis of Opportunism Based on Data on University Students of Different Courses

Abstract

The article is devoted to the New Institutional analysis of the factors of opportunism among students of different courses. The analysis is based on a survey in which 231 students from the Higher School of Economics and other Russian universities took part from February to May 2021. Econometric modeling is based on Latent class analysis, which allows the identification of unobservable groups based on the observed categorical variables presented. One of the main findings of the research is that fourth year students are less prone to opportunism than first, second and third year students. This can be explained by the higher opportunity costs of cheating among fourth year students and their greater independence, primarily financial. In addition, students who are motivated primarily to obtain knowledge (mastery) show a lesser inclination towards opportunism compared with students whose main motive is the degree (performance). Furthermore, a higher level of rationality, both in a general sense and in relation to budget planning, is reflected in a greater tendency to dishonest behavior. Finally, more honest behavior outside the university is combined with more dishonest academic behavior. The latter can be explained by the fact that it is psychologically more difficult to commit an immoral act in relation to a loved one than to do so in an academic environment, when you deceive a not personally familiar person and not even a specific person. Thus, on the basis of the analysis carried out, it can be understood under what conditions the student environment will be characterized by a higher propensity for opportunism and, accordingly, a lower rate of human capital accumulation.