A survey of economic theories and field evidence on pro-social behavior

Stephan Meier

No 06-6, Working Papers from Federal Reserve Bank of Boston

Abstract: In recent years, a large number of economic theories have evolved to explain people?s pro-social behavior and the variation in their respective behavior. This paper surveys economic theories on pro-social behavior and presents evidence ? mainly from the field ? testing these theories. In addition, the survey emphasizes that institutional environment might significantly interact with pro-social preferences and explain some of the variation in observed pro-social behavior.

Keywords: Human behavior; Interpersonal relations (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2006
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cbe, nep-evo, nep-exp, nep-pke and nep-soc
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (22)

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