ABSTRACT
This chapter aims at widening the economic perspective on commitment, still bearing in mind these ethical practices of individuals. According to economic formalisation, compassion is synonymous with altruism. Indeed, altruism is often formalised by inserting an externality which is representative of the well-being of other economic agents, into the utility function of the economic agent. The chapter shows how the notion of commitment is formulated in economic theory. Gary S. Becker suggests two commitment models using manipulation. The first one deals with the parent-child relationship. The second model tackles social class relations. The chapter also shows that the opposition between compassion and commitment is very excessive and that commitment cases may also originate in a certain form of compassion. The distinction between compassion and commitment was first developed through D. Collard's and A. Sen's articles. Collard, like Sen, finds the origins of this distinction in Edgeworth's work published in 1881 and entitled Mathematical Psychics.
