RT Article
T1 The Price of Morality. An Analysis of Personality, Moral Behaviour, and Social Rules in Economic Terms
JF Journal of business ethics
VO 45
IS 1
SP 121
OP 131
A1 Gössling, Tobias
LA English
PB Springer Science + Business Media B. V
YR 2003
UL https://www.ixtheo.de/Record/1785619713
AB The focus of the present study was the rationality of moral behaviour and moral conviction. Assumptions like "morality pays" or "good ethics is good business" are not a priori right. Whether morality as personal conviction is also economically rational or not depends in large part on the institutional setting of a society and the likelihood that immoral behaviour will be sanctioned. The systematic approach to morality thus appears to be political economy and the institutional setting: rules and laws. However, the conditions for morality depend not only on the formal structures but also on the informal structures of rules and sanctions. Hence, the systematic approach to morality is most closely linked with the culture of a society; the efficiency of individual morality depends on social conditions. It is costly for individuals and societies to establish and entertain conditions that set clear incentives for moral behaviour. In this context, moral competencies, learning, and education play a crucial role.
K1 Sanctions
K1 Rationality
K1 Morality
K1 moral preferences
K1 Moral Development
K1 moral competencies
K1 Institutions
DO 10.1023/A:1024180732125