Altruism and market-like behavior: An analysis of willingness to pay for recycled paper products

The contrast between self-interested behavior guided by rational choice and altruistic behavior guided by normative considerations is a central theme in the social sciences. This study suggests that market and market-like beh avior, the context where self-interest is expected to dominate, is in fact often motivated by altruism. This argument is tested by examining a willing ness to pay measure, a surrogate for the market that is finding substantial use in analyses of public policy. In particular, the ability of the Schwar tz model of altruism to explain willingness to pay for recycled products is examined. Findings indicate that even as the Schwartz model has explained many purely altruistic behaviors, it also can explain self-reported willing ness to pay While economists often have noted the importance of rational ch oice in even the most intimate of human decisions, this study notes the imp ortance of normative altruism in even the most calculated.