Value And Change In Economy

This paper proposes a theoretical approach of the issue of values, especially economic ones. While philosophy defines values as being absolute, stable landmarks, criteria that guide human behavior, economics privileges the relative nature of values derived from usefulness and appreciation of goods by consumers, according to their needs, preferences, and interests.A strict delimitation of economic values can be made only on didactic considerations; there are numerous situations in which economic values are intertwined with aesthetic ones (e.g. the ones in the field of industrial design) with moral ones (i.e. social responsibility of corporations) with scientific ones (i.e. the theory of rational choice), political ones etc. The changes caused by globalization require an analysis of the value system in order to better understand the relationship between economic changes and the ones within the value system. The effort of reinterpretation of values, especially economic ones is a reflex of modernization, of technology. In most areas and times of economy, its stated purpose was to create wealth, often identified with happiness, a vague and highly subjective concept, so that it cannot be quantified as economy would like We have reviewed some of the fundamental papers on this subject and we have tried to capture the most important changes regarding contemporary economic values. Finally, we characterized Romania in the light of research results, respectively of estimates made by Hofstede, Inglehart and Schwartz in an attempt to explain, from an axiological perspective, the underdevelopment of Romania in comparison with other EU Member States.