The Effect of Economic Variables on the Adoption of Time Volunteering of Individuals

The appropriate theoretical explanation and the empirical prediction of adopting ethical behaviors by individuals are among the challenges in the economic literature. The most important theory in predicting the empirical behavior of individuals, i.e. the theory of expected utility, lacks unanimity towards dealing with ethical behaviors and explaining the mechanism of the emergence of such behaviors in everyday life. However, previous studies also had less achievement in predicting the variability of the ethical behaviors of individuals in the proposed models. In this study, a new behavioral model is presented to complete the previous models by highlighting the role of economic variables and incorporating the individuals’ self-interests in ethical decisions. In order to measure the predictive power of the proposed model in explaining the ethical behavior of time volunteering, data from nearly 25,000 people of twenty-five countries around the world is evaluated. The results of statistical analysis indicate the significance of the effects of economic variables on time volunteering while getting the more desirable explanation of the variability of ethical behaviors compared to the previous models. In addition, the findings show that economic variables have more explanatory power than other variables in sustainable ethical behavior model while the cultural and personality variables have more explanatory power than other variables in unsustainable ethical behavior model. These results, with emphasis on the economic aspects of adopting ethical behaviors, can provide a new horizon for further understanding and the new context for the emergence of such behaviors.