The conflict between pro-self and pro-social behaviour is at the core of many key problems of our time, as, for example, the reduction of air pollution and the redistribution of scarce resources. For the well-being of our societies, it is thus crucial to find mechanisms to promote pro-social...

People use moral wiggle room to behave selfish. But does a narrow wiggle room necessarily produce better social outcomes? When people disagree on normative goals, economic theories of self-image predict that narrowing the moral wiggle room will make choices not only less selfish but also even...

Unrealistic assumptions underlying neo-classical economic theory have been challenged by both behavioral economics and studies of moral economy. But both challengers share certain features with neo-classical theory. Complementing them, recent work in the anthropology of ethics shows that...

Unrealistic assumptions underlying neo-classical economic theory have been challenged by both behavioral economics and studies of moral economy. But both challengers share certain features with neo-classical theory. Complementing them, recent work in the anthropology of ethics shows that...

The object of all economic enquiry is the human person under the aspect of behaviour within limited resources. Consequently the truth of any economic theory ultimately hinges on the truth of its philosophy of man. This essay analyses modern economic thought from two perspectives: firstly, from...

In our book, Law, Economics, and Morality (OUP, 2010), we proposed to combine economic methodology and deontological morality through explicit incorporation of moral constraints into economic models. We argued that the normative flaws of economic analysis can be rectified without relinquishing...

Welfare economics—the normative branch of economics—is a consequentialist moral theory. Unlike deontological morality, at least in its basic form it attributes no intrinsic value to prohibitions on active or intentional harming of other people, lying, or promise breaking, and does not allow...