Political Economists are Neither Selfish nor Indoctrinated
نویسندگان
چکیده
Most professional economists believe that economist in general are more selfish than other persons and that this greater selfishness is due to economic education. In this paper we offer empirical evidence against this widely held belief. Using a unique data set about giving behaviour to two social funds at the University of Zurich, it is shown that economic training does not make people act more selfish. However, the ‘natural experiment’ supports the hypothesis that the different behaviour of economist can be explained by a selection effect. JEL classification: A13, A20, H41
منابع مشابه
Are Political Economists Selfish and Indoctrinated? Evidence from a Natural Experiment
Most professional economists believe that economists in general are more selfish than other people and that this increased selfishness is due to economics education. This article offers empirical evidence against this widely held belief. Using a unique data set about giving behavior in connection with two social funds at the University of Zurich, it is shown that economics education does not ma...
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