Behavioral economics shows that people act more morally than the homo economicus model suggests. People are more trustworthy and behave more fairly than many people think. Nevertheless, morality regularly comes into conflict with economic interests, but these conflicts can often be resolved with the help of business ethics.
About the topic
Entrepreneurial profit-seeking and the legitimate interests of society are not always in harmony. However, the conflicts can often be overcome in a constructive way, for example by the state intervening in a regulatory manner (regulatory ethics), by companies assuming responsibility (business ethics) and investing in trust. Or by individuals behaving more morally (individual morality). Typical topics of business ethics are: In the social market economy, the state sets the framework, e.g., for consumer protection, supply chains, and environmental protection; companies maintain their own compliance and corporate social responsibility departments. Individuals volunteer in a variety of ways in society - keyword civic engagement and strengthen social capital. Together, these ways ensure greater prosperity, growth and life satisfaction. Behavioral economics has shown in experiments, among other things, that immoral behavior such as corruption, moonlighting and white-collar crime is a form of corruption.
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Already before the Ukrainian War, Transformation seems to be everywhere. Almost 50 times it has been mentioned in the New „Ampel” Coalition Treaty of November 2021.
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Protecting the climate is one of the greatest challenges our society is currently facing. In view of the heated political and social discussions surrounding this topic, the question naturally arises as to whether behavioral-economic insights can be used to sensitize German society to the dangers of climate change and to motivate it towards more sustainability.
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German Economic Institute (IW) 
