Do business and economics studies erode prosocial values?

Does exposure to business and economics education make students less prosocial and more selfish? Employing a difference‐in‐difference strategy with panel‐data from three subsequent cohorts of students enrolled in a Business and Economics bachelor's program (>900 students), we find that business and...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Publicado en:Southern Economic Journal Vol. 92; no. 2; pp. 504 - 527
Autores principales: Sundemo, Mattias, Löfgren, Åsa
Formato: Artículo
Publicado: Wiley-Blackwell Oct2025
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Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
Descripción
Sumario:Does exposure to business and economics education make students less prosocial and more selfish? Employing a difference‐in‐difference strategy with panel‐data from three subsequent cohorts of students enrolled in a Business and Economics bachelor's program (>900 students), we find that business and economics students become less prosocial over time relative to a control group of comparable students. Importantly, younger students appear to be significantly more malleable with respect to their to prosocial values. Furthermore, we observe heterogeneous effects across majors such as accounting, finance, and economics. Our research demonstrates a strong correlation between prosocial values and generous behavior.