<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<p>Economic education is frequently blamed for negatively affecting students’ values and attitudes. Economists are reported as less cooperative, more self-interested, and more prone to free-riding. However, empirical evidence is inconclusive – certain studies support while others gainsay the so-called indoctrination hypothesis. We contribute to the discussion by running a Public Good Game (PGG) quasi-experiment. Working with economics and non-economics graduates (N = 206), we compared contributions to the common fund by representatives of both subsamples. Students’ contributions were then juxtaposed against the scores they achieved from the exam items, testing their command of game theory to detect the supposed influence of economic teaching. We hypothesised that holders of a bachelor’s degree in economics and management would contribute less to finance the common good. We also expected that those whose exam scores were higher would donate less to the common fund in the PGG. Contrary to expectations and prior empirical evidence, students holding a bachelor’s degree in economics and management made higher contributions to the common fund than their non-economics counterparts. Also, we found no correlation between the level of donations and exam scores. We conclude that there are no grounds for considering economic teaching as promoting uncooperativeness and exerting the supposed harmful influence on students’ character. We claim that economic departments provide education rather than indoctrination.</p>
</abstract>

Economic education is frequently blamed for negatively affecting students’ values and attitudes. Economists are reported as less cooperative, more self-interested, and more prone to free-riding. However, empirical evidence is inconclusive – certain studies support while others gainsay the so-called indoctrination hypothesis. We contribute to the discussion by running a Public Good Game (PGG) quasi-experiment. Working with economics and non-economics graduates (N = 206), we compared contributions to the common fund by representatives of both subsamples. Students’ contributions were then juxtaposed against the scores they achieved from the exam items, testing their command of game theory to detect the supposed influence of economic teaching. We hypothesised that holders of a bachelor’s degree in economics and management would contribute less to finance the common good. We also expected that those whose exam scores were higher would donate less to the common fund in the PGG. Contrary to expectations and prior empirical evidence, students holding a bachelor’s degree in economics and management made higher contributions to the common fund than their non-economics counterparts. Also, we found no correlation between the level of donations and exam scores. We conclude that there are no grounds for considering economic teaching as promoting uncooperativeness and exerting the supposed harmful influence on students’ character. We claim that economic departments provide education rather than indoctrination.

Educated or Indoctrinated? Remarks on the Influence of Economic Teaching on Students’ Attitudes Based on Evidence from the Public Good Game Experiment

Studies in Logic, Grammar and Rhetoric

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Economic education is frequently blamed for negatively affecting students’ values and attitudes. Economists are reported as less cooperative, more...

Educated or Indoctrinated? Remarks on the Influence of Economic Teaching on Students’ Attitudes Based on Evidence from the Public Good Game Experiment

Published Online: Dec 30, 2021

Page range: 353 - 371

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/slgr-2021-0020

Keywords
Public Good Game, economic education, indoctrination hypothesis, quasi-experiment

© 2021 Joanna Dzionek-Kozłowska et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Educated or Indoctrinated? Remarks on the Influence of Economic Teaching on Students’ Attitudes Based on Evidence from the Public Good Game Experiment

Published Online: Dec 30, 2021

Page range: 353 - 371

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/slgr-2021-0020

KeywordsPublic Good Game, economic education, indoctrination hypothesis, quasi-experiment

© 2021 Joanna Dzionek-Kozłowska et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Keywords
Public Good Game, economic education, indoctrination hypothesis, quasi-experiment