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Do Business Students Make Good Citizens?

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  • Stephen Meier
  • Bruno Frey

Abstract

Business students are often portrayed as behaving too egoistically. The critics call for more social responsibility and good citizenship behavior by business students. We present evidence of pro-social behavior of business students. With a large panel data set for real-life behavior at the University of Zurich, two specific hypotheses are tested: do selfish students select into business studies or does the training in business studies negatively indoctrinate students? The evidence points to a selection effect. Business education does not seem to change the citizenship behavior of business students.

Suggested Citation

  • Stephen Meier & Bruno Frey, 2004. "Do Business Students Make Good Citizens?," International Journal of the Economics of Business, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 11(2), pages 141-163.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:ijecbs:v:11:y:2004:i:2:p:141-163
    DOI: 10.1080/1357151042000222492
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    1. So menedžerji slabi državljani?
      by d1joze in Damijan blog on 2008-05-24 13:46:00

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    Cited by:

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    2. Berentsen Aleksander & Rocheteau Guillaume, 2003. "On the Friedman Rule in Search Models with Divisible Money," The B.E. Journal of Macroeconomics, De Gruyter, vol. 3(1), pages 1-21, December.
    3. Richard Freeman, 2011. "New Roles for Unions and Collective Bargaining Post the Implosion of Wall Street Capitalism," Chapters, in: Susan Hayter (ed.), The Role of Collective Bargaining in the Global Economy, chapter 10, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    4. Kirchgassner, Gebhard, 2005. "(Why) are economists different?," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 21(3), pages 543-562, September.
    5. Aleksander Berentsen & Esther Br�gger & Simon L�rtscher, "undated". "On Cheating and Whistle-Blowing," IEW - Working Papers 153, Institute for Empirical Research in Economics - University of Zurich.
    6. João Carlos Graça & João Carlos Lopes & Rita Gomes Correia, 2014. "Economics education: literacy or mind framing? Evidence from a survey on the social building of trust in Portugal," Working Papers Department of Economics 2014/20, ISEG - Lisbon School of Economics and Management, Department of Economics, Universidade de Lisboa.
    7. Matteo Migheli, 2012. "Socialisation, Trust and Reciprocity among Young People," Swiss Journal of Economics and Statistics (SJES), Swiss Society of Economics and Statistics (SSES), vol. 148(I), pages 77-95, March.
    8. Espín, Antonio M. & Correa, Manuel & Ruiz-Villaverde, Alberto, 2022. "Economics students: Self-selected in preferences and indoctrinated in beliefs," International Review of Economics Education, Elsevier, vol. 39(C).
    9. Curtis R. Price & Roman M. Sheremeta, 2015. "Endowment Origin, Demographic Effects, and Individual Preferences in Contests," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(3), pages 597-619, September.
    10. Petersen, Verner C., 2005. "The otherworldly view of economics - and its consequences," Working Papers 2005-13, University of Aarhus, Aarhus School of Business, Department of Management.
    11. Cipriani, Giam Pietro & Lubian, Diego & Zago, Angelo, 2009. "Natural born economists?," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 30(3), pages 455-468, June.
    12. Miragaya-Casillas, Cristina & Aguayo-Estremera, Raimundo & Ruiz-Villaverde, Alberto, 2023. "University students, economics education, and self-interest. A systematic literature review," International Review of Economics Education, Elsevier, vol. 43(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Business Students; Public Good; Giving Behavior; Education; Selection;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • A13 - General Economics and Teaching - - General Economics - - - Relation of Economics to Social Values
    • A20 - General Economics and Teaching - - Economic Education and Teaching of Economics - - - General
    • H41 - Public Economics - - Publicly Provided Goods - - - Public Goods

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