Altruism and Market-Like Behavior: An Analysis of Willingness to Pay for Recycled Paper Products

Discusses the contrast between self-interested behavior guided by rational choice and altruistic behavior guided by normative considerations. This study suggests that market and market-like behavior, the context here self-interest is expected to dominate, is in fact often motivated by altruism. This argument is tested by examining a willingness to pay measure, a surrogate for the market that is finding substantial use in analyses of public policy. In particular, the ability of the Schwartz model of altruism to explain willingness to pay for recycled products is examined. Data for this study were collected from 367 residents (average age 42.2 yrs) of Virginia using computer assisted telephone procedures. Findings indicate that even as the Schwartz model has explained many purely altruistic behaviors, it also can explain self-reported willingness to pay. While economists often have noted the importance of rational choice in even the most intimate of human decisions, this study notes the importance of normative altruism in even the most calculated.