The Character of Spider-Man: Ethics and Greed in a General Equilibrium Model

Paulo Roberto Amorim Loureiro

MPRA Paper from University Library of Munich, Germany

Abstract: This paper develops a general equilibrium model in which ethics and greed coexist as opposing forces shaping social and economic stability. Individuals choose be- tween legal and illicit effort, while ethical agents internalize a moral cost, and the government sets enforcement and penalties. The dynamic interaction between moral restraint, institutional enforcement, and social respect determines the aggregate equilibrium. The model shows that, in the absence of virtue or enforcement, greed dominates and equilibrium collapses; yet, when moral costs or public integrity poli- cies rise, the economy converges to a stable and more equitable state. Mathematical stability is derived from Jury’s conditions, and an empirical strategy is proposed to test these mechanisms using crime, enforcement, and social capital data. Ultimately, morality emerges as an endogenous economic variable—an efficient complement to law, rather than its substitute.

Keywords: Ethics; Greed; General Equilibrium; Crime; Enforcement; Welfare Policy; Spider-Man; Moral Economics (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D13 D5 I38 J12 K42 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025-05-05
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-dge, nep-evo, nep-hpe and nep-law
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:pra:mprapa:126613

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