Greed vs. Love of Science in Young Economists A Field Experiment

This paper reports a field experiment involving manipulation of invitations to register in an experimental economics subject database. Two types of invitations were sent, one emphasizing pecuniary and the other non-pecuniary benefits of participation. It was found that first-year economicsmajors weremuch more money-oriented, i.e. relatively more attracted by the first type of invitation, than any other group. This supports the view that the often-observed selfishness of economists results from selection and, if anything, is mitigated by training.