Modelling Possibilities of Altruistic Behaviour

Abstract

A new form of behaviour, namely altruistic behaviour has entered such modern social processes as social responsibility, social innovation and so on. In the last twenty- thirty years an increasing number of economic analyses have adopted and have been using the principle of altruistic behaviour. Since altruism is a complex phenomenon, which can be analysed from biological, sociological and economic aspects, the relevant literature does not provide a clear and accurate definition of this concept. Even the economic terminology offers various interpretations of this term. If the behaviour that results in individual’s willingness to decrease his/her own benefit in order to increase the benefit of others is defined, the definition employed by the economic model of altruistic behaviour is used. The relevant literature – considering the definition above and applying the model system of the subjective theory of value – offers efficient formalised models to describe altruistic behaviour. The methodology of experimental economics can be applied to determine the parameters of analytical models and to describe the target groups from an altruistic aspect. The appropriate sampling enables researchers to generalise the results and assess the society and social groups in an adequate manner.