Does Studying Economics Discourage Cooperation? Watch What We Do, Not What We Say or How We Play
Open Access
- 1 February 1996
- journal article
- Published by American Economic Association in Journal of Economic Perspectives
- Vol. 10 (1) , 177-186
- https://doi.org/10.1257/jep.10.1.177
Abstract
Based on what economics students say and how they play games, economics students appear less cooperative than other students. But appearances can be deceiving: the evidence in this paper indicates that the actual behavior of economics students is more cooperative than that of other students. The authors carried out a 'lost letter' experiment, in which envelopes containing currency were dropped in classrooms and the return rate measured. In this test of actual behavior, the economics students returned a significantly larger percentage of lost letters, exhibiting more cooperative behavior than other students.Keywords
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