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Individual Motivation, Its Nature, Determinants and Consequences for within group Behaviour

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  • Sabina Alkire
  • Séverine Deneulin

Abstract

The paper deals with evaluating the adequacy of the assumption that in economic transactions people are self-interested insofar as they are motivated solely by the concern of maximizing their own utility, and in particular with assessing how this assumption affects within-group behaviour. Policy and incentive structures based on the assumption of exogenous and self-interest motivation can undermine other sources of motivation and have negative effects both on co-operative behaviour and also on economic efficiency.

Suggested Citation

  • Sabina Alkire & Séverine Deneulin, 2000. "Individual Motivation, Its Nature, Determinants and Consequences for within group Behaviour," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2000-184, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
  • Handle: RePEc:unu:wpaper:wp-2000-184
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    File URL: https://www.wider.unu.edu/sites/default/files/wp184.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Assar Lindbeck & Sten Nyberg & Jörgen W. Weibull, 1999. "Social Norms and Economic Incentives in the Welfare State," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Oxford University Press, vol. 114(1), pages 1-35.
    2. Amartya Sen, 1997. "Maximization and the Act of Choice," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 65(4), pages 745-780, July.
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    6. Frey, Bruno S & Oberholzer-Gee, Felix, 1997. "The Cost of Price Incentives: An Empirical Analysis of Motivation Crowding-Out," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 87(4), pages 746-755, September.
    7. Frey, Bruno S & Stutzer, Alois, 2000. "Happiness, Economy and Institutions," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 110(466), pages 918-938, October.
    8. Sah, Raaj Kumar & Stiglitz, Joseph E., 1985. "The social cost of labor and project evaluation: A general approach," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 28(2), pages 135-163, November.
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    12. Joseph E. Stiglitz, 1991. "The Invisible Hand and Modern Welfare Economics," NBER Working Papers 3641, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
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    Cited by:

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    2. Pillai N., Vijayamohanan, 2008. "Infrastructure, Growth And Human Development In Kerala," MPRA Paper 7017, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. Emmanuel Atiisipae Akolgo & Desmond Tutu Ayentimi, 2020. "Community-level mechanisms and strategies for managing sustainable water supply systems: lessons from Bongo district of northern Ghana," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 22(4), pages 3739-3756, April.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Sociology of economics; Group decision making; Social capital;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C90 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - General
    • C91 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Laboratory, Individual Behavior

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