Economic Analysis of Moral Behavior

Author: Hu Haiou
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-01-01
Features: The pursuit of maximizing satisfaction is the starting point and destination of human behavior, and the means of achieving this goal vary with different economic systems. In a market economy, the realization of individual interests can simultaneously promote the interests of others and society. However, in traditional or planned economies, the realization of individual interests inevitably harms the interests of others and society; the realization of social interests also requires individuals to bear costs. In this sense, the key to encouraging people to make moral choices is not to ask them to abandon their own interests or no longer pursue the maximization of their satisfaction, but to regulate and improve the market economy system, so that the way people achieve their interests aligns with societal demands and transforms this behavior into emotional fulfillment. The decline in social morality during the transition period is not an inevitable outcome of a market economy but rather a reflection of its immaturity. Therefore, the path to improving China's moral standards is not to retreat to traditional planned morality and continue to abandon and sacrifice individual interests, but to further advance and deepen market economy reforms. This will enable people to pursue and achieve their personal interests fully, thereby promoting the continuous and stable development of social morality in China.