Morals and markets - PubMed

Affiliations

• PMID: 23661753
• DOI: 10.1126/science.1231566

Morals and markets

Armin Falk et al. Science. 2013.

Abstract

The possibility that market interaction may erode moral values is a long-standing, but controversial, hypothesis in the social sciences, ethics, and philosophy. To date, empirical evidence on decay of moral values through market interaction has been scarce. We present controlled experimental evidence on how market interaction changes how human subjects value harm and damage done to third parties. In the experiment, subjects decide between either saving the life of a mouse or receiving money. We compare individual decisions to those made in a bilateral and a multilateral market. In both markets, the willingness to kill the mouse is substantially higher than in individual decisions. Furthermore, in the multilateral market, prices for life deteriorate tremendously. In contrast, for morally neutral consumption choices, differences between institutions are small.

Comment in

• The systematic place of morals in markets.

  Luetge C, Rusch H. Luetge C, et al. Science. 2013 Aug 16;341(6147):714. doi: 10.1126/science.341.6147.714-a. Science. 2013. PMID: 23950512 No abstract available.

• The systematic place of morals in markets--response.

  Falk A, Szech N. Falk A, et al. Science. 2013 Aug 16;341(6147):714. doi: 10.1126/science.341.6147.714-b. Science. 2013. PMID: 23950513 No abstract available.

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