Méon. P-G, Maite D. Laméris, M. D. (University of Groningen) & van Prooijen, A.-M. (Erasmus University), 2018-2020

In this project, we examine the effect of studying business on the beliefs and values of students and we study the role of economics in influencing this effect. Using a survey conducted in a leading Belgian business school, we observe significant differences between business students and students from other disciplines, among which economics, at the start of their first year in both their beliefs and values. We also discover that some of these differences persist or are reinforced at the end of the year. Furthermore, we find changes in beliefs and values of business students that take only one year to manifest. Above all, while we observe that some values and beliefs of business students change over time, we observe no such changes for economics students. This suggests that the effect of studying business is not entirely driven by exposure to economics in business studies.