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Does Market Interaction Erode Moral Values?

Author

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  • Björn Bartling
  • Ernst Fehr
  • Yagiz Özdemir
Abstract
The widespread use of markets leads to unprecedented material well-being in many societies. We study whether market interaction, as a side effect, erodes moral values. An encompassing understanding of the virtues and vices of markets, including their possible impact on moral values, is necessary to make informed decisions on the spheres in society where the allocation and incentive functions of markets should exercise their power, and where this may not be desirable. In a seminal and highly influential paper, Falk and Szech (2013) provide experimental data that seem to suggest that “market interaction erodes moral values.” Although we replicate their main treatment effect, we show that additional treatments are necessary to corroborate their conclusion. These treatments, however, reveal that repeated play and not market interaction causes the erosion of moral values. Our paper thus shows that neither Falk and Szech’s data nor our data support the claim that market interaction erodes moral values.

Suggested Citation

  • Björn Bartling & Ernst Fehr & Yagiz Özdemir, 2020. "Does Market Interaction Erode Moral Values?," CESifo Working Paper Series 8546, CESifo.
    • Handle: RePEc:ces:ceswps:_8546
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    Cited by:

    1. Harris, Colin & Myers, Andrew & Kaiser, Adam, 2023. "The humanizing effect of market interaction," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 205(C), pages 489-507.
    2. Feess, Eberhard & Kerzenmacher, Florian & Muehlheusser, Gerd, 2023. "Morally questionable decisions by groups: Guilt sharing and its underlying motives," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 140(C), pages 380-400.
    3. Riehm, Tobias & Fugger, Nicolas & Gillen, Philippe & Gretschko, Vitali & Werner, Peter, 2022. "Social norms, sanctions, and conditional entry in markets with externalities: Evidence from an artefactual field experiment," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 212(C).
    4. Dufwenberg, Martin & Johansson-Stenman, Olof & Kirchler, Michael & Lindner, Florian & Schwaiger, Rene, 2022. "Mean markets or kind commerce?," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 209(C).
      • Martin Dufwenberg & Olof Johansson Stenman & Michael Kirchler & Florian Lindner & Rene Schwaiger, 2021. "Mean Markets or Kind Commerce?," Working Papers 2021-07, Faculty of Economics and Statistics, Universität Innsbruck.
    5. Devesh Rustagi, 2023. "Market Exposure, Civic Values, and Rules," Discussion Papers 2023-05, The Centre for Decision Research and Experimental Economics, School of Economics, University of Nottingham.
    6. Callais, Justin & Harris, Colin & Borchard, Ben, 2022. "The moral costs of markets: Testing the deterioration hypothesis," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 204(C), pages 200-220.
    7. Benistant, Julien & Galeotti, Fabio & Villeval, Marie Claire, 2022. "Competition, information, and the erosion of morals," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 204(C), pages 148-163.
    8. Drouvelis, Michalis & Gomez-Martinez, Francisco, 2023. "The impact of group identity on experimental markets with externalities," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 158(C).
    9. Christoph Huber & Anna Dreber & Jürgen Huber & Magnus Johannesson & Michael Kirchler & Utz Weitzel & Miguel Abellán & Xeniya Adayeva & Fehime Ceren Ay & Kai Barron & Zachariah Berry & Werner Bönte , 2023. "Competition and moral behavior: A meta-analysis of forty-five crowd-sourced experimental designs," Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. 120(23), pages 2215572120-, June.
    10. Andreas G B Ziegler & Giorgia Romagnoli & Theo Offerman, 2024. "Morals in Multi-Unit Markets," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 22(5), pages 2225-2260.
    11. Muehlheusser, Gerd & Promann, Timo & Roider, Andreas & Wallmeier, Niklas, 2024. "Honesty of Groups: Effects of Size and Gender Composition," IZA Discussion Papers 16954, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    12. Bartling, Björn & Özdemir, Yagiz, 2023. "The limits to moral erosion in markets: Social norms and the replacement excuse," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 138(C), pages 143-160.
    13. Kaisa Kotakorpi & Satu Metsälampi & Topi Miettinen & Tuomas Nurminen, 2021. "The role of reporting institutions and image motivation in tax evasion and incidence," Working Papers 2133, Tampere University, Faculty of Management and Business, Economics.
    14. Zou, Wenbo & Wang, Jinjie & Yan, Jubo, 2022. "Online markets and trust," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 201(C), pages 395-412.
    15. Gächter, Simon & Kölle, Felix & Quercia, Simone, 2022. "Preferences and perceptions in Provision and Maintenance public goods," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 135(C), pages 338-355.
    16. Nigus, Halefom Yigzaw & Nillesen, Eleonora & Mohnen, Pierre & Di Falco, Salvatore, 2023. "Markets and socially responsible behavior: do punishment and religion matter?," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 209(C), pages 572-593.
    17. Ge, Ge & Godager, Geir, 2021. "Predicting strategic medical choices: An application of a quantal response equilibrium choice model," Journal of choice modelling, Elsevier, vol. 39(C).
    18. Karen Evelyn Hauge & Snorre Kverndokk & Andreas Lange, 2021. "Why People Oppose Trade Institutions - On Morality, Fairness and Risky Actions," CESifo Working Paper Series 9456, CESifo.
    19. Buser, Thomas & Cappelen, Alexander & Tungodden, Bertil, 2021. "Fairness and Willingness to Compete," Discussion Paper Series in Economics 8/2021, Norwegian School of Economics, Department of Economics.
    20. Choi, Ginny Seung & Storr, Virgil Henry, 2023. "The morality of markets in theory and empirics," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 216(C), pages 590-607.
    21. Byambadalai, Undral & Ma, Ching-to Albert & Wiesen, Daniel, 2023. "Changing preferences: An experiment and estimation of market-incentive effects on altruism," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    22. Greiff, Matthias & Rusch, Hannes, 2022. "Sharing responsibility for the good," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 101(C).
    23. Feess, Eberhard & Kerzenmacher, Florian & Timofeyev, Yuriy, 2022. "Utilitarian or deontological models of moral behavior—What predicts morally questionable decisions?," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 149(C).
    24. Kaisa Kotakorpi & Tuomas Nurminen & Topi Miettinen & Satu Metsälampi, 2022. "Bearing the burden – Implications of tax reporting institutions and image concerns on evasion and incidence," Working Papers 3, Finnish Centre of Excellence in Tax Systems Research.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    market interaction; moral values;

    JEL classification:

    • C91 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Laboratory, Individual Behavior
    • D02 - Microeconomics - - General - - - Institutions: Design, Formation, Operations, and Impact
    • D62 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Externalities
    • D63 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Equity, Justice, Inequality, and Other Normative Criteria and Measurement

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