Going Far by Going Together: James M. Buchanan’s Economics of Shared Ethics

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
Art Carden ◽  
Gregory W. Caskey ◽  
Zachary B. Kessler
Keyword(s):  
Business Ethics ◽  
Economic Analysis ◽  
Public Good ◽  
Public Capital ◽  
The Public ◽  
Economic Progress ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Other Regarding ◽  
Ethical Communication ◽  
Other Regarding Preferences

We explore themes in Nobel Prize–winning economist James M. Buchanan’s work and apply his Ethics and Economic Progress to problems facing individuals and firms. We focus on Buchanan’s analysis of the individual work ethic, his exhortations to “pay the preacher” of the “institutions of moral-ethical communication,” and his notion of law as “public capital.” We highlight several ways people with other-regarding preferences can contribute to social flourishing and some of the ways those who have “affected to trade for the public good” might want to redirect their efforts. We show how Buchanan’s work has considerable implications for business ethics. Just as his economic analysis of politics changed how we understand government, we think his economic analysis of ethics can (and should) change how we understand business.

scholarly journals Walk the Talk? The Effect of Voting and Excludability in Public Goods Experiments

2010 ◽  
Vol 2010 ◽  
pp. 1-15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hans J. Czap ◽  
Natalia V. Czap ◽  
Esmail Bonakdarian
Keyword(s):  
Public Goods ◽  
Public Good ◽  
Driving Forces ◽  
Public Project ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public Projects ◽  
Individual Contributions ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Other Regarding

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of voting and excludability on individual contributions to group projects. We conducted two experiments on excludable and nonexcludable public goods, which provided several important results. First, contrary to our expectations, subjects are generally contributing more to the non-excludable compared to the excludable public good. Second, participating in a vote to choose a public project per se makes no difference in contributions. However, if the project that the individual voted for also gets selected by the group, they contribute significantly more to that project. Third, empathy and locus of control are important driving forces of participation in common projects. Our results have implications on the procedural design of obtaining funding for public projects. First, the public should get involved and have a say in the determination of which project should be realized. Second, it might well pay off to attempt to develop a consensus among the population and obtain near unanimous votes, because in our experiment, subjects discriminate between the project they voted for and the project chosen by the majority. Third, the policy proposers should stress the other-regarding interest of the public good rather than just pecuniary incentives.

The Source and Significance of Confusion in Public Goods Experiments

2010 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul J Ferraro ◽  
Christian A Vossler
Keyword(s):  
Public Goods ◽  
Public Good ◽  
Institutional Design ◽  
Game Form ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public Goods Experiments ◽  
Experimental Parameters ◽  
Other Regarding ◽  
Other Regarding Preferences ◽  
Design Experiments

Abstract Economists use public goods experiments to develop and test theories of individual preferences and institutional design. Previous work demonstrates many participants in public goods experiments contribute to the public good out of confusion. We design experiments to provide insights on the consequences and causes of confusion. We establish that confusion amounts to more than statistical noise and does not dissipate with repetition (i.e. learning). Confused subjects use experimental parameters and the behavior of other players as cues, which confounds treatment effects and traditional strategies to identify other-regarding preferences through exogenous parameter changes and the modeling of reactions to other subjects’ decisions. We argue that confusion stems from an inaccurate understanding of game incentives (“failure of game form recognition”), which is a consequence of the framing and inadequate payoff information in standard instructions. Modified instructions can substantially reduce confusion, and, in turn, change the distribution of contributions to the public good.

The Ethical Roots of Business Ethics

1991 ◽  
Vol 1 (01) ◽  
pp. 101-120
Author(s):  
David Vogel
Keyword(s):  
Business Ethics ◽  
Public Good ◽  
Human Nature ◽  
The Public ◽  
Central Argument ◽  
The Relationship

This paper traces the historical roots of some of our current preoccupations with the ethics of business. Its central argument is that many of the contemporary criteria that we use to evaluate the ethics of business are not new; rather, they date back several centuries. This paper illustrates this thesis by comparing historical and contemporary discussions of three sets of issues: the relationship between ethics and profits, the relationship between private gain and the public good and the tension between the results of capitalism and the intentions of businessmen.The fact that these tensions are inherent in the nature of capitalism, if not in human nature itself, does not make our contemporary concerns or standards any less valid. On the contrary, it underlies their significance. Contemporary discussions of business ethics constitute part of an ongoing moral dialogue with both deep secular and religious roots.

ISLAMIC INSTITUTIONS AND PROPERTY RIGHTS: THE CASE OF THE 'PUBLIC GOOD' WAQF

2001 ◽  
Vol 44 (1) ◽  
pp. 44-74 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maya Shatzmiller
Keyword(s):  
Property Rights ◽  
Public Good ◽  
Legal Cases ◽  
The Public ◽  
Institutional Economic ◽  
Economic Progress ◽  
Learning Institutions ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Theoretical Paradigms ◽  
Muslim Spain

AbstractThe paper examines the institutional economic performance of the public good waqf with the intent of demonstrating the relevance of institutions to the momentous debate over Islamic backwardness and European progress and the waqf's role as supporter of learning institutions and promoter of social integration. Through the application of two sets of theoretical paradigms designed for measuring institutional behaviour, property rights and institutional arrangements, to legal cases supplied by fatwās from North Africa and Muslim Spain it will be possible to analyze and evaluate the impact of one of the major institutions of the premodern Islamic world on economic progress. L'article étudie la performance économique du waqf fiduciaire public, (waqf khairī), en tant qu'institution économique. Le but est de démontrer la pertinence de cette performance quant au débat sur la décadence économique des sociétés musulmanes par rapport au progrès que connut l'Europe. Sera étudié le rôle de l'activité économique institutionelle du waqf en général, et particulièrement dans les fonctions qui lui étaient attribuées, comme le soutien des institutions scolaires ainsi que la promotion de l'integrité sociale. Par l'application de deux paradigmes théoriques conçues pour mesurer le comportement institutionel, les droits de propriété et l'adaptation aux changements dans les conditions économiques rapportés par les documents juridiques tels les fatwās de l'Afrique du Nord et de l'Espagne musulmane, il sera possible d'analyser et d'évaluer l'impact de l'une des plus importantes institutions du monde islamique pré-moderne sur le progrès économique.

Unions & Civic Engagement: How the Assault on Labor Endangers Civil Society

Daedalus ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 142 (2) ◽  
pp. 119-138
Author(s):  
Andy Stern
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Civic Engagement ◽  
Public Good ◽  
Labor Movement ◽  
Trade Unions ◽  
Direct Action ◽  
National Level ◽  
Union Density ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Individual

American trade unions are a crucial segment of civil society that enriches our democracy. Union members are stewards of the public good, empowering the individual through collective action and solidarity. While union density has declined, the U.S. labor movement remains a substantial political and economic force. But the relentless attacks by the political right and its corporate allies could lead to an erosion of civic engagement, further economic inequality, and a political imbalance of power that can undermine society. The extreme assault on unions waged by Republicans in Wisconsin, Ohio, Michigan, and at a national level must be countered by a revitalized labor movement and by those who understand that unions are positive civil actors who bring together individuals who alone have little power. Unions need both structural reform and greater boldness; there are moments in which direct action and dramatic militancy can bring about positive social change. The current assault on labor can be rebuffed, and unions can expand their role as stewards for the public good and as defenders of efforts by the 99 percent to reduce inequality and protect democracy.

The Ethical Roots of Business Ethics

1991 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 101-120 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Vogel
Keyword(s):  
Business Ethics ◽  
Public Good ◽  
Human Nature ◽  
The Public ◽  
Central Argument ◽  
The Relationship

This paper traces the historical roots of some of our current preoccupations with the ethics of business. Its central argument is that many of the contemporary criteria that we use to evaluate the ethics of business are not new; rather, they date back several centuries. This paper illustrates this thesis by comparing historical and contemporary discussions of three sets of issues: the relationship between ethics and profits, the relationship between private gain and the public good and the tension between the results of capitalism and the intentions of businessmen.The fact that these tensions are inherent in the nature of capitalism, if not in human nature itself, does not make our contemporary concerns or standards any less valid. On the contrary, it underlies their significance. Contemporary discussions of business ethics constitute part of an ongoing moral dialogue with both deep secular and religious roots.

STUMBLING TOWARDS THE CONSTITUTION

2016 ◽  
Vol 75 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-4
Author(s):  
Thomas Adams
Keyword(s):  
Public Good ◽  
Political Community ◽  
Political Control ◽  
The Political ◽  
Social Rights ◽  
Full Membership ◽  
The Public ◽  
Statutory Power ◽  
The Individual

ONE way in which governments may exercise political control over their subjects is by removing their status as citizens. Doing so – denying the individual the political and social rights that are constitutive of full membership of their community – involves making a radical choice, and accordingly such a decision must be properly regulated. One of the ways in which UK law does so is by preventing the exercise of the broad statutory power to rescind the citizenship of a UK national because it is “conducive to the public good”, where doing so would render that person stateless (British Nationality Act 1981, s. 40(2), (4)). Individuals may only be stripped of their citizenship under this provision on the condition that they remain full members of another political community.

Business Ethics

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christoph Lutge ◽  
Matthias Uhl
Keyword(s):  
Business Ethics ◽  
Economic Analysis ◽  
Behavioral Economics ◽  
Theoretical Foundation ◽  
Corporate Ethics ◽  
Abstract Concepts ◽  
Comprehensive Overview ◽  
Business Studies ◽  
The Individual

Business ethics continues to gain importance in the curricula of business studies courses. This book provides a comprehensive overview of both the essential concepts of business ethics related to the economy as a whole, and the more narrowly understood corporate ethics related to the individual company. In contrast to other works on the same topic, special emphasis is placed on a coherent theoretical foundation that puts tools of economic analysis, including behavioral economics, at the center. In particular, the importance of both empirical research and dilemma structures for business ethics receives special attention. The largest chapter of the book is devoted to corporate ethics and provides students and academics with guidance in the theoretical classification of the variety of concepts that often coexist in the debate. Abstract concepts are illustrated with the help of practice boxes.

Alternatives to Punishment: The power to annul an economic exchange promotes self- rather than other-regarding preferences in fairness and trust games

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sinthu Sridharan ◽  
Rashmi Sudarsan ◽  
Ruibo Dong ◽  
Chi Cheong ◽  
Lasana Harris
Keyword(s):  
The Other ◽  
Economic Exchange ◽  
Social Motives ◽  
The Public ◽  
Trust Games ◽  
Games Studies ◽  
Economic Transaction ◽  
Other Regarding ◽  
Other Regarding Preferences

Fairness and trust appraisals that engender economic exchange rely on thoughts about another person’s mind to satisfy self- (profit maximising) and other-regarding (social motives) preferences. Punishment should promote fairness and trust within economic exchange, guarding against free-riding and trust violations, but depends on other-regarding preferences concerned with the violator. Here, we explore an alternative to punishment that may instead promote self-regarding preferences—the opportunity for the decision-maker to annul (veto) the economic transaction. We test this veto approach by having participants assume the role of investor(s) in modified versions of the public goods (Studies one and three) and trust games (Studies two and four). Across four studies both online and in laboratory with two economic games, investor(s) could veto a transaction—annul a previous exchange—if the return from the other player(s) was deemed unsatisfactory. We find that this manipulation increased investment by the investor(s), consistent with games where second-party punishment is possible. Moreover, self-regarding preferences predicted veto behaviour, while other-regarding preferences predicted punishment behaviour. We argue that this veto approach can be an alternative to punishment that can safe-guard fairness and trust during economic exchange.

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