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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, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 114(1), pages 1-35.
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    3. Frey, Bruno S & Stutzer, Alois, 2000. "Happiness, Economy and Institutions," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 110(466), pages 918-938, October.
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    6. repec:bla:econom:v:40:y:1973:i:159:p:241-59 is not listed on IDEAS
    7. Sen, Amartya, 1985. "Goals, Commitment, and Identity," The Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, Oxford University Press, vol. 1(2), pages 341-355, Fall.
    8. Bardhan, Pranab, 1989. "The new institutional economics and development theory: A brief critical assessment," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 17(9), pages 1389-1395, September.
    9. Stiglitz, Joseph E, 1989. "Markets, Market Failures, and Development," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 79(2), pages 197-203, May.
    10. Sen, Amartya, 1993. "Internal Consistency of Choice," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 61(3), pages 495-521, May.
    11. Joseph E. Stiglitz, 1991. "The Invisible Hand and Modern Welfare Economics," NBER Working Papers 3641, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    12. Sen, Amartya, 1997. "Economics, Business Principles and Moral Sentiments," Business Ethics Quarterly, Cambridge University Press, vol. 7(3), pages 5-15, July.
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    Cited by:

    1. Autiero, Giuseppina & Bruno, Bruna, 2007. "Social preferences in wage bargaining: A corporatist approach," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 36(1), pages 90-101, February.
    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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