{"title":"The Matthew Effect in monetary wisdom","authors":"Thomas Li-Ping Tang","doi":"10.1007/s13520-021-00126-x","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Robert King Merton’s article published in <i>Science</i> popularized the Matthew Effect: “For to everyone who has, more will be given and he will grow rich; but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away” (Matthew 25:29). The Matthew Effect prevails at the individual, organization-industry, and country-global levels. This interdisciplinary review connects the Holy Bible with agency theory, tournament theory, corporate social responsibility (CSR), prospect theory, behavioral economics, the psychology of money, and business ethics in the literature. I expand the Matthew Effect, incorporate prospect theory and the love of money (1 Timothy 6:9–10), and develop a multi-level theory of the Matthew Effect in Monetary Wisdoms: Individual decision-makers apply their deep-rooted values (avaricious monetary aspiration, the love of money attitude) as a lens, frame the critical concerns in the immediate and omnibus contexts, and maximize expected utility and ultimate serenity-happiness across people, context, and time at the individual, organization-industry, and country-global levels. The rich (with talents, integrity, character, and wisdom) serve God, enjoying the ultimate joy and happiness. The poor serve mammon, destroying their lives. The rich get richer. The poor get poorer. Scholars of business ethics and CSR must explore this phenomenon in future studies.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":54051,"journal":{"name":"Asian Journal of Business Ethics","volume":"10 2","pages":"153 - 181"},"PeriodicalIF":1.9000,"publicationDate":"2021-07-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1007/s13520-021-00126-x","citationCount":"10","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Asian Journal of Business Ethics","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13520-021-00126-x","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"ETHICS","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 10
Abstract
Robert King Merton’s article published in Science popularized the Matthew Effect: “For to everyone who has, more will be given and he will grow rich; but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away” (Matthew 25:29). The Matthew Effect prevails at the individual, organization-industry, and country-global levels. This interdisciplinary review connects the Holy Bible with agency theory, tournament theory, corporate social responsibility (CSR), prospect theory, behavioral economics, the psychology of money, and business ethics in the literature. I expand the Matthew Effect, incorporate prospect theory and the love of money (1 Timothy 6:9–10), and develop a multi-level theory of the Matthew Effect in Monetary Wisdoms: Individual decision-makers apply their deep-rooted values (avaricious monetary aspiration, the love of money attitude) as a lens, frame the critical concerns in the immediate and omnibus contexts, and maximize expected utility and ultimate serenity-happiness across people, context, and time at the individual, organization-industry, and country-global levels. The rich (with talents, integrity, character, and wisdom) serve God, enjoying the ultimate joy and happiness. The poor serve mammon, destroying their lives. The rich get richer. The poor get poorer. Scholars of business ethics and CSR must explore this phenomenon in future studies.
期刊介绍:
The Asian Journal of Business Ethics (AJBE) publishes original articles from a wide variety of methodological and disciplinary perspectives concerning ethical issues related to business in Asia, including East, Southeast and South-central Asia. Like its well-known sister publication Journal of Business Ethics, AJBE examines the moral dimensions of production, consumption, labour relations, and organizational behavior, while taking into account the unique societal and ethical perspectives of the Asian region. The term ''business'' is understood in a wide sense to include all systems involved in the exchange of goods and services, while ''ethics'' is understood as applying to all human action aimed at securing a good life. We believe that issues concerning corporate responsibility are within the scope of ethics broadly construed. Systems of production, consumption, marketing, advertising, social and economic accounting, labour relations, public relations and organizational behaviour will be analyzed from a moral or ethical point of view. The style and level of dialogue involve all who are interested in business ethics - the business community, universities, government agencies, non-government organizations and consumer groups.The AJBE viewpoint is especially relevant today, as global business initiatives bring eastern and western companies together in new and ever more complex patterns of cooperation and competition.