Virtues, vices, and valuation: Marketization and moral evaluation in China

Abstract

To advance understanding of the relationship between marketization and morality in China, this study deploys a conjoint experimental design that generates hypothetical profiles composed of randomized combinations of virtues and vises across a heterogeneous set of moral domains. This approach permits the identification of systematic variation in individuals’ moral evaluations across regional contexts characterized by differing levels of marketization. Estimates of both individual and province fixed-effects models yield several consistent findings. First, the evaluative linkage between virtues and their corresponding vises becomes more tightly coupled as marketization intensifies, indicating an increasing integration of positive and negative moral judgments. Second, moralities that are normatively congruent with market-oriented logics—such as integrity, justice, and public spiritedness—exhibit heightened endorsement at higher levels of marketization. Meanwhile, moralities that are less directly aligned with, or functionally independent of, market exchange—including frugality, filial piety, a sense of shame, and bravery—demonstrate a relative decline in evaluative salience. Finally, the analysis reveals patterns that depart from simple monotonic variations: adherence to rules follows a U-shaped relationship with marketization, whereas evaluations of intelligence remain comparatively invariant across contexts. Taken together, these findings underscore the differentiated, multidimensional, and contextually contingent reconfiguration of moral evaluations under conditions of market transformation.