Ohio University Department of Economics
The Economics of Altruism
Fall 2015
I.
Basic Information
Course:
ECON 3010/5010: The Economics of Altruism
Professor:
Dr. Julia Paxton
Office:
329 Bentley Annex
Mailbox:
Economics Dept. mailroom, 3rd floor Bentley Annex
Office Hours: T/R 1:30-3; and by appointment
E-mail:
paxton@ohio.edu
Internet site: http://www.ohio.edu/people/paxton/WebPage/
Required Text:
All readings will be placed on Blackboard (link available on the class
website) or will be handed out in class.
II. Course Objectives and Description
Many economic models are based on the assumption that people behave
according to their own self interest. Yet, in the real world, there are plenty of
examples of people helping others with a seeming disregard for any personal
gain. Recent research in behavioral economics shows a plethora of surprising
and often, conflicting evidence on the existence of altruism. Students will
become familiar with the altruism literature and will replicate many cutting edge
experiments on altruism in the classroom. Altruism will be examined in many
different contexts including parenting, dating, religion, humanitarian work, acts
of heroism, and “random acts of kindness.” The class itself will have a highly
interactive atmosphere based on in-class experiments and discussions of the
theory and readings. The concepts of anonymity, positive externalities, greed,
inequality, fairness, and reciprocity will be analyzed.
Outside of the classroom, groups of students will have the opportunity to test for
altruism using controlled experiments of their own design. Students will focus
on the role of humanitarianism in society and will perform service learning
projects with local non-profit organizations. Students will learn project
evaluation techniques such as the RISE analysis and controlled experimental
analysis. Based on these results, students will work with Warren and Doris
Buffet’s Learning By Giving Foundation to distribute $10,000 to a local
organization of their choice.
III. Prerequisites
Junior or senior or permission. Econ. 1030
IV. Course Evaluation
The following scale will be used to compute the overall course grade:
Grading Weights
READ IT
DO IT
Quizzes:
Presentations:
Service Journals:
TOTAL:
20%
20%
20%
20%
20%
100%
READ IT: Each week, students will turn in a typed summary of the
weekly readings worth 10 points. The format can be in the style that best
helps the student: paragraphs, a detailed outline, detailed bullet points, or
a combination. These should be a reference for you later for quizzes or
future research. Late homeworks will be given a maximum of 5 points.
There is no particular page length, but each assignment should clearly
show that the readings were completed thoroughly. All READ ITS will
be submitted on Blackboard which will automatically check for
plagiarized and uncited content.
DO IT: Each week, students will be asked to perform some type of
research, altruistic act, experiment, or game that highlights the principles
discussed during the week. On days that the DO IT activities are
discussed, students should bring a brief typed summary of their activity.
The DO IT grade is based more on the discussion than on a long written
assignment. Students who complete DO IT assignments but are not in
class to discuss it will automatically lose 5 out of the 10 points. Late DO
ITs will be given a maximum of 5 points.
QUIZZES: Four quizzes covering the academic content of the course
(primarily from lecture with supporting readings) will measure student
understanding of economic concepts.
PRESENTATIONS: There will be a series of individual and group
presentations for each section of the class. Group presentation grades will
combine peer evaluations and an instructor presentation grade.
Service Learning Journal: Students will keep a service learning journal
throughout the semester. Each student must participate in 20 hours of
service learning for their group project with a local NGO. On the day of
the final, each student will turn in a service journal explaining what they
did, the number of hours spent on the project, a full RISE analysis, and the
major lessons learned.
Code of Conduct: All aspects of Ohio University's Student Code of
Conduct will be strictly adhered to with regards to academic misconduct.
Cheating on exams and homeworks, cutting and pasting information from
the internet without proper citation, and using previous students' work will
all result in failure of the course and notification of the problem to the
Academic Misconduct office.
Tentative Class Schedule
LOCAL NEEDS AND PHILANTHROPY
Week 1:
Local needs and philanthropic efforts
Week 2:
RISE analysis, Foundation mission statement
Week 3:
RISE presentations, Selection of local NGOs QUIZ 1
Week 4:
Field training
ORIGINS AND MOTIVES FOR ALTRUISM
Week 5:
How kind are you? Origins of altruism
Week 6:
Economic concepts related to altruism, testable hypotheses
Week 7:
Motives for altruism: ethics, reciprocity, signals and anonymity QUIZ 2
Week 8:
Business philanthropy: Group presentation
BEHAVIORAL ECONOMIC INSIGHTS INTO ALTRUISM
Week 9:
Behavioral economic principles
Week 10:
Behavioral economic experiments and games QUIZ 3
Week 11:
Behavioral economic experiments and games
Week 12:
Group field experiments testing for altruism
Week 13:
Experiment presentations QUIZ 4
EFFECTIVE PHILANTHROPY
Week 14:
Local philanthropy presentations, THANKSGIVING
Week 15:
Local philanthropy presentations, Allocation of grant money
Finals Week: Thursday, Dec. 10 at 9 am: Grant awarding ceremony
Service journal due