Based on empirical data, a two-equation game-type corruption reaction function model was developed. A "data to model" approach was used rather than the usual a priori approach. The general hypothesis tested was the "monkey see, monkey do" principle. The latest data on corruption among developing...

Economic behavior strives for efficiency. Therefore, also evolving network structures should be a result of such a goal-oriented behavior. Traditionally, networks were assumed to be only temporary phenomena, since the prevailing organizational forms that comply with the efficiency postulate are...

This chapter reviews the theory of the voluntary public and private redistribution of wealth elaborated by economic analysis in the last forty years or so. The central object of the theory is altruistic gift-giving, construed as benevolent voluntary redistribution of income or wealth. The theory...

The major impediment standing in the way for economists seeking to understand Adam Smith's The Theory of Moral Sentiments (TTMS) and The Wealth of Nations (WN) is demonstrated to be their confusion over the terms, prudence, used by Smith in the standard Aristotelian sense in TTMS to mean putting...

This essay makes reference to the Scholastic doctrine of moral probabilism and explores the possible links between this theological perspective and the modern concept of probability. It shows that these concepts are more related than is suggested by common etymological approaches. Moral...

How should corporate directors determine what is the right decision? For at least the past 30 years the debate has raged as to whether shareholder value should take precedence over corporate social responsibility when crucial decisions arise. Directors face pressure, not least from ethical...

Adam Smith’s version of Virtue Ethics can be traced directly back to Plato (Socrates) and Aristotle. Smith basically skipped Aquinas and Augustine because they were also Catholic theologians, as well as philosophers. Referencing them would not have been looked upon kindly by the Scottish...

Keynes carefully and methodically devoted chapter nine of the General Theory to a detailed discussion of Virtue Ethics which is related to Adam Smith’s discussion in The Theory of Moral Sentiments. Both Virtues and Vices were considered by Keynes. The four main virtues in the Greek version of...

The economic development process is a complex concept, much broader than the material growth model. The economic growth is a process of accumulation in terms of quantity and value, using a series of macroeconomic variables such as GDP, the real wages or the income per capita. Economic...