Does Studying Economics Inhibit Cooperation?
Journal of Economic Perspectives
vol. 7,
no. 2, Spring 1993
(pp. 159-171)
(Complimentary)
Abstract
In this paper we investigate whether exposure to the self-interest model commonly used in economics alters the extent to which people behave in self-interested ways. First, we report the results of several empirical studies—some our own, some by others—that suggest economists behave in more self-interested ways. By itself, this evidence does not demonstrate that exposure to the self-interest model causes more self-interested behavior, since it may be that economists were simply more self-interested to begin with, and this difference was one reason they chose to study economics. Second, we present preliminary evidence that exposure to the self-interest model does in fact encourage self-interested behavior.Citation
Frank, Robert H., Thomas Gilovich, and Dennis T. Regan. 1993. "Does Studying Economics Inhibit Cooperation?" Journal of Economic Perspectives, 7 (2): 159-171. DOI: 10.1257/jep.7.2.159JEL Classification
- A11 Role of Economics; Role of Economists
- A13 Relation of Economics to Social Values
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