Economics and Pro-Social Behaviour

Values and norms can be positively utilized in achieving development goals where commercial interests are not good stimulators. Redistribution of resources is vital to enhance income as well as the capacity to earn sustainable incomes. This requires income support programs, basic health and education as well as microfinance to build small enterprises. In economics education, results suggest that expenditure can be on self-consumption as well as on consumption of others including dependents, family, neighbours, etc. If an individual prioritizes certain ethical goals over self-aggrandizement, then theorizing should not assume it away. Philanthropy should not be envisioned in the framework of reciprocity alone. People may have a strong desire and willingness to help others even when not reciprocated. There is plenty of evidence that people help strangers, pay anonymously in charities, and sacrifice their wealth and even their lives in the pursuit of being a good person.