Scandinavian Working Papers in Economics

Working Papers in Economics,
University of Gothenburg, Department of Economics

No 827: Do business and economics studies erode prosocial values?

Mattias Sundemo () and Åsa Löfgren ()
Additional contact information
Mattias Sundemo: Department of Economics, School of Business, Economics and Law, Göteborg University, Postal: P.O. Box 640, SE 40530 GÖTEBORG, Sweden
Åsa Löfgren: Department of Economics, School of Business, Economics and Law, Göteborg University, Postal: P.O. Box 640, SE 40530 GÖTEBORG, Sweden

Abstract: Does exposure to business and economics education make students less prosocial and more selfish? Employing adifference-in-difference strategy with panel-data from three subsequent cohorts of students enrolled in a Business and Economics bachelor’s program (>900 students), we find that business and economics students become less prosocial over time relative to a control group of comparable students. Importantly, younger students appear to be significantly more malleable with respect to their to prosocial values. Furthermore, we observe heterogeneous effects across majors such as accounting, finance, and economics. Our research demonstrates a strong correlation between prosocial values and generous behavior.

Keywords: indoctrination; education; selection effect; economics education; business education; gender; prosociality; prosocial behavior; self-interest

JEL-codes: A22; D91; I23

Language: English

31 pages, First version: October 2022. Revised: January 2024.

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