Objective
The main objective of the proposed research is to enhance our understanding of the critical role of institutions in affecting moral transgression. I aim at identifying institutional mechanisms operating in markets and organisations that promote immoral outcomes. The key question this project seeks to explain is why “ordinary” people endowed with a given moral conception engage in behaviours they would generally object to. While the focus is on immoral behaviour, the reverse inference is always intended as well: if we understand mechanisms that promote immoral behaviour, we can build on this knowledge to design institutions that limit those outcomes.
The importance of studying morality is self-evident. Harmful outcomes resulting from market interactions or organisational design include, e.g. detrimental working conditions, suffering of animals that are kept in inhumane husbandry, or environmental damage. The critical role of institutions has also been pointed out in most extreme cases such as the organisation of the Holocaust.
Morality is an elusive term but there exists an academic common sense that immoral behaviour involves harming others in an unjustified way. It is this definition of immoral behaviour that organises the project as reflected in the suggested experimental paradigms. The two main institutional categories I will consider are markets and underlying market mechanisms (WP1) and organisational mechanisms, in particular the role of pivotality, hierarchy, division of labour, delegation, and framing (WP2). In all experiments I causally identify the role of institutions by comparing the distribution of moral values in a baseline condition to the one arising from specific institutional set-ups. WP 3 will complement the analysis from a different angle, studying (i) individual determinants of immoral behaviour, (ii) moral development in children, (iii) and the effects of a randomised intervention (mentoring program) on moral judgment in children.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: https://op.europa.eu/en/web/eu-vocabularies/euroscivoc.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: https://op.europa.eu/en/web/eu-vocabularies/euroscivoc.
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Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
ERC-2013-ADG
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Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Host institution
53113 Bonn
Germany
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.