1 / 7

Crossing the Line: “Economic Incentives and Ethical Behavior”

Crossing the Line: “Economic Incentives and Ethical Behavior”. Steven C. Agee, Ph.D. Professor of Economics and Director, Economic Research & Policy Institute. A Brief History of Economic Thought!.

ophira
Download Presentation

Crossing the Line: “Economic Incentives and Ethical Behavior”

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Crossing the Line: “Economic Incentives and Ethical Behavior” Steven C. Agee, Ph.D. Professor of Economics and Director, Economic Research & Policy Institute

  2. A Brief History of Economic Thought! • The term economics comes from the Ancient Greek oikonomia, “management of a household” from oikos, “house”; and nomos, “custom” or “law”, thus “rules of the house(hold)”. • Writings involving economics date back to early civilizations including Greek, Roman, Indian, Chinese, Persian and Arab civilizations. • Most of these early writings dealt with philosophy; good versus evil; right versus wrong; the self-interest of individuals. • Adam Smith is generally considered the “father” of economics as a separate discipline. The Wealth of Nations (1776) identified land, labor and capital as the three factors of production and major contributors to a nation’s wealth.

  3. Economics is the study of how a society allocates scarce productive resources, among conflicting or competing ends, in the most efficient manner. Contemporary Dimensions of Economics: Microeconomics – examines the economic behavior of agents (including individuals and firms, consumers and producers) Macroeconomics – examines the aggregate economy including variables such as unemployment, inflation, economic growth, monetary & fiscal policy Positive Economics – describing “what is” Normative Economics – describing “what ought to be”

  4. How Do Ethics and Economics Relate? • There are those who would argue that ethics has no role in economic behavior! • There are others who understand ethical standards and behavior, but ignore these to gain a competitive advantage!

  5. Discussion Topics Involving Ethics and Economics – The Role of Incentives • Daycare Centers • The Bagel Man • Inheritance Taxes (The “Death Tax”) • Babies Born in Michigan – May 2010 Higher Incidence of Visual, Hearing or Learning Disabilities • Does a Company have a Moral Obligation to pay a Living Wage to an Employee? • The Recent Housing Crisis and the Role of the Federal Government (Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac)

  6. Conclusion • Economic Incentives play a major role in individual and firm behavior and thus, at the margin, can affect social and moral (ethical) outcomes. • Decisions made by government, whether local, state, or federal often include incentives which can generate positive and negative externalities (Consider MAPS III)

  7. Questions?

More Related