Saturday, May 11, 2013

Armin Falk and Nora Szech — Markets erode moral values

Researchers from the Universities of Bamberg and Bonn present causal evidence on how markets affect moral values
Many people express objections against child labor, exploitation of the workforce or meat production involving cruelty against animals. At the same time, however, people ignore their own moral standards when acting as market participants, searching for the cheapest electronics, fashion or food. Thus, markets reduce moral concerns. This is the main result of an experiment conducted by economists from the Universities of Bonn and Bamberg. The results are presented in the latest issue of the renowned journal "Science".
Prof. Dr. Armin Falk from the University of Bonn and Prof. Dr. Nora Szech from the University of Bamberg, both economists, have shown in an experiment that markets erode moral concerns. In comparison to non-market decisions, moral standards are significantly lower if people participate in markets.
EurekAlert
Markets erode moral values
Prof. Dr. Armin Falk, University of Bonn, Institute for Applied Microeconomics, and Prof. Dr. Nora Szech, University of Bamberg, Department of Economics
(h/t Mark Thoma at Economist''s View)

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