Adam Smith’s Bourgeois Virtues in Competition

Whether or not capitalism is compatible with ethics is a long standing dispute. We take up an approach to virtue ethics inspired by Adam Smith and consider how market competition influences the virtues most associated with modern commercial society. Up to a point, competition nurtures and supports such virtues as prudence, temperance, civility, industriousness and honesty. But there are also various mechanisms by which competition can have deleterious effects on the institutions and incentives necessary for sustaining even these most commercially friendly of virtues. It is often supposed that if competitive markets are good, more competition must always be better. However, in the long run competition enhancing policies that neglect the nurturing and support of the bourgeois virtues may undermine the continued flourishing of modern commercial society

Religiosity, attitude and the demand for socially responsible products

In this paper, we examine the relationship between various Christian denominations and attitude and behavior regarding consumption of socially responsible (SR) products. Literature on the relationship between religiosity and pro-social behavior has shown that religiosity strengthens positive attitudes towards pro-social behavior, but does not affect social behavior itself. This seems to contradict the theory of planned behavior that predicts that attitude fosters behavior. One would therefore expect that if religiosity encourages attitude towards SR products, it would also increase the demand for them. We test this hypothesis for four affiliations (non-religious, Catholic, Orthodox Protestant, and Other Protestant) on a sample of 997 Dutch consumers, using structural equation modeling. We find that Christian religiosity, indeed, increases positive attitude towards SR products, except for the Orthodox Protestant affiliation. In accordance with the theory of planned behavior, attitude is found to increase the demand for SR products. We find no evidence of hypocrisy (in the sense that religiosity increases pro-social attitude without affecting behavior in the case of SR products) for any of the Christian denominations

Geloven in de hel maakt niet ongelukkig

De hel zou niet alleen een achterhaald idee zijn, maar mensen ook angst inboezemen met mogelijk traumatisering tot gevolg. Maar uit onderzoek blijkt dat er op wereldschaal maar weinig verband is tussen geloven in een hel en het geluk dat mensen ervaren, stelt Johan Graafland, hoogleraar Economie, Onderneming en Ethiek aan de Tilburg University

Op naar een nieuwe en sociale christendemocratie

Samenwerking of fuseren van het CDA en Omtzigts nieuwe partij NSC kan de christendemocratie redden, denkt Johan Graafland, hoogleraar economie, onderneming en ethiek aan de Tilburg University

Op naar een nieuwe en sociale christendemocratie

Samenwerking of fuseren van het CDA en Omtzigts nieuwe partij NSC kan de christendemocratie redden, denkt Johan Graafland, hoogleraar economie, onderneming en ethiek aan de Tilburg University

Tax Reform and the Dutch Labor Market: An Applied General Equilibrium Approach

This paper employs MIMIC, an applied general equilibrium model of the Dutch economy, to explore various tax cuts aimed at combating unemployment and raising labor supply. MIMIC combines modern labor-market theories, a firm empirical foundation detailed description of Dutch labor-market institutions. We develop a small aggregate model which contains the core of MIMIC, namely wage setting, job matching, labor supply demand. In addition to illustrating the main economic mechanisms in MIMIC shows the advantages of employing a larger, more disaggregated model that accounts for heterogeneity, institutional details, and more economic mechanisms. Targeting in-work benefits at the low skilled is the most effective way to cut economy-wide unemployment quality and quantity of labor supply. Cuts in social security contributions paid by employers and subsidies for hiring long-term unemployed reduce unskilled unemployment most substantially. Tax cuts in the higher tax brackets boost the quantity and quality of formal labor supply but are less effective in reducing unemployment and in raising unskilled employment and female labor supply.

Geloven in de hel maakt niet ongelukkig

De hel zou niet alleen een achterhaald idee zijn, maar mensen ook angst inboezemen met mogelijk traumatisering tot gevolg. Maar uit onderzoek blijkt dat er op wereldschaal maar weinig verband is tussen geloven in een hel en het geluk dat mensen ervaren, stelt Johan Graafland, hoogleraar Economie, Onderneming en Ethiek aan de Tilburg University

Consistent paths towards a stable and resilient European economy

Management summary of the report 'Consistent paths towards a stable and resilient European economy'