Description
Book SynopsisFinancial disasters - and stories of the greedy bankers who precipitated them - seem to underscore the idea that self-interest will always trump concerns for the greater good. But is it valid? This title challenges the notion that doing well is accomplished only at the expense of doing good.
Trade Review"This book is short, accessible and thought-provoking... Frank draws heavily from game theory and evolutionary biology to explain why do-gooders work for less and firms that don't squeeze suppliers and cheat customers profit over the long run."--Washington Post "Moral behavior is not irrational ... Frank insists. The challenge is to define self-interest in a manner capacious enough to accommodate the real motives for people's choices. Frank does this with a mixture of Darwinian science, psychology, and flexible common sense."--Laura Secor, Boston Globe "What Price the Moral High Ground? Is wide-ranging and well-written."--John J. DiIulio, Jr., The Weekly Standard "[Frank's] vision is one that allows people to strive to meet their chosen goals and promotes the common good in an ordered cosmos--which is exactly where many of us want to live."--Merrill Matthews, Business Economics
Table of ContentsIntroduction: Infectious Good vii Part I. DOING WELL 1. Forging Commitments That Sustain Cooperation 3 2. Can Cooperators Find One Another? 28 3. Adaptive Rationality and the Moral Emotions 45 4. Can Socially Responsible Firms Survive in Competitive Environments? 58 Part II. DOING GOOD 5. What Price the Moral High Ground? 71 6. Local Status, Fairness, and Wage Compression Revisited 92 7. Motivation, Cognition, and Charitable Giving 109 Part III. FORGING BETTER OUTCOMES 8. Social Norms as Positional Arms-Control Agreements 133 9. Does Studying Economics Inhibit Cooperation? 155 Appendix: Ethics Questionnaire 179 Epilogue: The Importance of Sanctions 183 References 191 Index 199
