Mário Aquino Alves Herbert Kimura Leonardo Fernando Cruz Basso Elizabeth Krauter
Abstract
The objective of this article is to investigate whether, despite of the goal of utility maximization defended by the neo-classic economic theory, the altruism can prevail inside organizations. Initially, one brief discussion of the altruism will be presented, analyzing this concept from some perspectives, from its sociological roots, its deployments in the organizational theory, passing through approaches from biology and economy. It is discussed that the evolution dynamics of the biology and the mechanism of the game theory make possible the construction of a mathematical structure that, under determined premises, serves as a useful model to describe the process of the prevalence of the altruism in the organizations. Through simulations using the mathematical model, we can identify that, given the conditions of the prisoner's dilemma and the assumptions of unconditional imitation, the altruism can survive in an organizational environment. In addition, the model shows that the organizations can be infected by the altruistic behavior: egoistic individuals can either be excluded from the group due to lack of adaptation to the environment or try to imitate the behavior of the altruists to make possible his survival.
Download Info
To download:
If you experience problems downloading a file, check if you have the
proper application to
view it first. Information about this may be contained
in the File-Format links below. In case of further problems read
the IDEAS help
page. Note that these files are not on the IDEAS
site. Please be patient as the files may be large.
Length: Date of creation: 2004 Date of revision: Handle: RePEc:anp:en2004:093
Contact details of provider: Postal: Secretaria da ANPEC Rua Tiradentes, 17 - Ingá Niterói, RJ 24210-510 Brazil Phone: 55 21 2621 1802 Fax: 55-11-3091-6073 Email: Web page: http://www.anpec.org.br More information through EDIRC
Order Information: Postal: Secretaria da ANPEC Rua Tiradentes, 17 - Ingá Niterói, RJ 24210-510 Brazil
For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its listing, contact: (Hugo E. A. da Gama Cerqueira) The email address of this maintainer does not seem to be valid anymore. Please ask Hugo E. A. da Gama Cerqueira to update the entry or send us the correct address..
Related research
Keywords:
Find related papers by JEL classification: D64 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Altruism A12 - General Economics and Teaching - - General Economics - - - Relation of Economics to Other Disciplines C71 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Game Theory and Bargaining Theory - - - Cooperative Games