Economics and Ethics
Kapitel 2
Kapitel 2
Kartei Details
| Karten | 11 |
|---|---|
| Sprache | English |
| Kategorie | VWL |
| Stufe | Universität |
| Erstellt / Aktualisiert | 18.04.2014 / 13.03.2015 |
| Weblink |
https://card2brain.ch/box/economics_and_ethics1
|
| Einbinden |
<iframe src="https://card2brain.ch/box/economics_and_ethics1/embed" width="780" height="150" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe>
|
Consequentialism
the morality of an action is determined solely (lediglich) by its results (or consequenses)
consequentialism is about the Good (goals)
the Right (rules) is that max. the Good
goals come first, rules to achieve the goals
Egoism
assosiates morallity with self-interest
Psychological egoism
people are by nature self-interested
descriptive
people max. utility, or satisfaction, Ui
Ui is a functiononly of one´s own material allocation xi
ex: doing good or avoiding bad: selfish
rescuing a child: selfish
Ethical egoism
an action is moraly right if and only if it max. one´s self interest or well-being
normative
First welfare theorem of economics: Individuals acting in their own interests in free markets will max. economic welfare
Counterargument: Sometimes my interests are furthered by immoral behavior (neg. externalities)
Counterarguments Ethical Egoism
Egoism is not a moral theory
Cooperation involves a short-term loss for a long.term gain
Feelings:conscience is a ggod thing not a selfish thing (-> econmists exclude feelings)
Counterarguments Descriptive Egoism
Poeple often act against their long-term interests
EX: volunteering, giving money, donating a kidney
but still selfish motives: Social apprpval, futuer material benefits
Dictator Game
Subjects in one room are paired anonymously with subject in another room
Dictators: receive a sum of money (endowment)
Recipients: receive no endowment
Dictator can share any amount, including nothing, with his/her recipient
Control Dictator Game
Fix or manipulate variables
Single blind anonymity: paired subjects never learn the identity of their counteroart, but experimenter knows, who gives to whom
Double blind anonymity:the experimentor also never learns who made which decisions
Anonymity helps rule out certain explanations of giving
Interpretation of Experimental Results
Null Hypothesis
- default conjecture or position
- Ex.: deictator giving is selfless
Finding on feelings is consistent with this interpretation, but it does not prove it
Reason: alternative explanation: mistakes, false beliefs
No numoer of pos aoutcomes can prove the null hypothesis, a single counterexample suffices to disprove a hypothesis
Hypothesis are general statements and must always be true
Falsisiability (Widerlegung)
A theory iois most falsifiable, i g it can never be proven true, but a single counterexample proves a theory false
Falsifiable does not mean the theory is false or can be made false (you prove it wrong)
Features of economics experiments
Trade off between control (for casual inferences) and external validity (for realism)
Control -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------->
Observational studies Field experiments Laboratory experiments
<----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------External validity
Coice of methods depends on the purpose
