Political Economists are Neither Selfish Nor Indoctrinated

No 490, CESifo Working Paper Series from CESifo

Abstract: Most professional economists believe that economists in general are more selfish than other persons and that this greater selfishness is due to economics education. This paper 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 make people act more selfishly. Rather, this natural experiment suggests that the particular behavior of economists can be explained by a selection effect.

Keywords: economists; public good; giving behavior; education; selection (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2001
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Working Paper: Political Economists are Neither Selfish nor Indoctrinated
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