Economics Without Preferences

Author : Robert Sugden
Publisher : Oxford University Press
Page : 384 pages
File Size : 41,9 Mb
Release : 2018-06-14
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 9780192558794

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The Community of Advantage by Robert Sugden Pdf

The Community of Advantage asks how economists should do normative analysis. Normative analysis in economics has usually aimed at satisfying individuals' preferences. Its conclusions have supported a long- standing liberal tradition of economics that values economic freedom and views markets favourably. However, behavioural research shows that individuals' preferences, as revealed in choices, are often unstable, and vary according to contextual factors that seem irrelevant for welfare. Robert Sugden proposes a reformulation of normative economics that is compatible with what is now known about the psychology of choice. The growing consensus in favour of paternalism and 'nudging' is based on a very different way of reconciling normative economics with behavioural findings. This is to assume that people have well-defined 'latent' preferences which, because of psychologically-induced errors, are not always revealed in actual choices. The economist's job is then to reconstruct latent preferences and to design policies to satisfy them. Challenging this consensus, The Community of Advantage argues that latent preference and error are psychologically ungrounded concepts, and that economics needs to be more radical in giving up rationality assumptions. Sugden advocates a kind of normative economics that does not use the concept of preference. Its recommendations are addressed, not to an imagined 'social planner', but to citizens, viewed as potential parties to mutually beneficial agreements. Its normative criterion is the provision of opportunities for individuals to participate in voluntary transactions. Using this approach, Sugden reconstructs many of the normative conclusions of the liberal tradition. He argues that a well-functioning market economy is an institution that individuals have reason to value, whether or not their preferences satisfy conventional axioms of rationality, and that individuals' motivations in such an economy can be cooperative rather than self-interested.

Author : Robert Sugden
Publisher : Oxford University Press
Page : 384 pages
File Size : 44,5 Mb
Release : 2018-06-18
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 9780192558787

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The Community of Advantage by Robert Sugden Pdf

The Community of Advantage asks how economists should do normative analysis. Normative analysis in economics has usually aimed at satisfying individuals' preferences. Its conclusions have supported a long- standing liberal tradition of economics that values economic freedom and views markets favourably. However, behavioural research shows that individuals' preferences, as revealed in choices, are often unstable, and vary according to contextual factors that seem irrelevant for welfare. Robert Sugden proposes a reformulation of normative economics that is compatible with what is now known about the psychology of choice. The growing consensus in favour of paternalism and 'nudging' is based on a very different way of reconciling normative economics with behavioural findings. This is to assume that people have well-defined 'latent' preferences which, because of psychologically-induced errors, are not always revealed in actual choices. The economist's job is then to reconstruct latent preferences and to design policies to satisfy them. Challenging this consensus, The Community of Advantage argues that latent preference and error are psychologically ungrounded concepts, and that economics needs to be more radical in giving up rationality assumptions. Sugden advocates a kind of normative economics that does not use the concept of preference. Its recommendations are addressed, not to an imagined 'social planner', but to citizens, viewed as potential parties to mutually beneficial agreements. Its normative criterion is the provision of opportunities for individuals to participate in voluntary transactions. Using this approach, Sugden reconstructs many of the normative conclusions of the liberal tradition. He argues that a well-functioning market economy is an institution that individuals have reason to value, whether or not their preferences satisfy conventional axioms of rationality, and that individuals' motivations in such an economy can be cooperative rather than self-interested.

Author : David K. Levine
Publisher : Open Book Publishers
Page : 154 pages
File Size : 50,8 Mb
Release : 2012
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 9781906924928

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Is Behavioral Economics Doomed? by David K. Levine Pdf

In this book, David K. Levine questions the idea that behavioral economics is the answer to economic problems. He explores the successes and failures of contemporary economics both inside and outside the laboratory, and asks whether popular behavioral theories of psychological biases are solutions to the failures. The book not only provides an overview of popular behavioral theories and their history, but also gives the reader the tools for scrutinizing them.

Author : Michael Mandler
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
Page : 0 pages
File Size : 41,8 Mb
Release : 2024-07-31
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 1009340700

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Economics without Preferences by Michael Mandler Pdf

Economics without Preferences lays out a new microeconomics - a theory of choice behavior, markets, and welfare - when agents lack the preferences and marginal judgments that economics normally relies on. Agents without preferences defy the rules of the traditional model of rational choice but they can still systematically pursue their interests. The theory that results resolves several puzzles in economics. Status quo bias and other anomalies of behavioral economics shield agents from harm; they are expressions rather than violations of rationality. Parts of economic orthodoxy go out the window. Agents will fail to make the fine-grained trade-offs between options ingrained in conventional economics, leading market prices to be volatile and cost-benefit analysis to break down. This book provides policy alternatives to fill this void. Governments can spur innovation, the main benefit markets can deliver, while sheltering agents from the upheavals that accompany economic change.

Author : Amartya Sen
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 40 pages
File Size : 51,8 Mb
Release : 1973
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : UCAL:$B501754

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Behaviour and the Concept of Preference by Amartya Sen Pdf

Author : Bill J Gerrard
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 206 pages
File Size : 40,6 Mb
Release : 2006-04-10
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 9781134915286

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The Economics of Rationality by Bill J Gerrard Pdf

The concept of rationality is the heart of modern economics. Neo-classical theory seems unable to proceed without assuming a rational agent seeking to find the optimal means to a well defined end. Yet many find this uncritical treatment of rationality problematic. It takes little account of culture history or creativity and consequently many economists find this insistence on rationality of little use when trying to explain a wide range of economic phenomena. Increasingly these include a large number of game theorists and others involved in mainstream theory as well as those typically opposed to neo-classicism. The Economics of Rationality contains a number of critical perspectives on the treatment of rationality in economics.

Author : Mark Machina,W. Kip Viscusi
Publisher : Newnes
Page : 897 pages
File Size : 48,7 Mb
Release : 2013-11-14
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 9780444536860

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Handbook of the Economics of Risk and Uncertainty by Mark Machina,W. Kip Viscusi Pdf

The need to understand the theories and applications of economic and finance risk has been clear to everyone since the financial crisis, and this collection of original essays proffers broad, high-level explanations of risk and uncertainty. The economics of risk and uncertainty is unlike most branches of economics in spanning from the individual decision-maker to the market (and indeed, social decisions), and ranging from purely theoretical analysis through individual experimentation, empirical analysis, and applied and policy decisions. It also has close and sometimes conflicting relationships with theoretical and applied statistics, and psychology. The aim of this volume is to provide an overview of diverse aspects of this field, ranging from classical and foundational work through current developments. Presents coherent summaries of risk and uncertainty that inform major areas in economics and finance Divides coverage between theoretical, empirical, and experimental findings Makes the economics of risk and uncertainty accessible to scholars in fields outside economics

Author : Bruce Caldwell,John Davis,Uskali Mäki,Esther-Mirjam Sent
Publisher : Taylor & Francis
Page : 261 pages
File Size : 46,9 Mb
Release : 2022-08-18
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 9781000637939

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Methodology and History of Economics by Bruce Caldwell,John Davis,Uskali Mäki,Esther-Mirjam Sent Pdf

This edited volume provides an in-depth exploration into the influential work of Wade Hands, examining the changing relationship between methodology and the history of economics in connection with contemporary developments in economics. The papers in this volume fall into four parts, each devoted to an important theme in Wade Hands’ work. The first part explores the influence and scope of Reflection without Rules, capturing the rich debate that the book generated about what guides methodological and philosophical thinking in economics. The second part examines Hands’ research on Paul Samuelson’s economics and the methodological dimensions of Samuelson’s thinking. Part three looks to Hands’ long-standing interest in the philosophical foundations of pragmatist thinking. The final part addresses his more recent research in the methodological import of the emergence of behavioural economics. Together, the contributors show how Hands’ insights in complexity theory, identity, and stratification are key to understanding a reconfigured economic methodology. They also reveal how his willingness to draw from multiple academic disciplines gives us a platform for interrogating mainstream economics and provides the basis for a humane yet scientific alternative. This unique volume will be essential reading for advanced students and researchers across social economics, history of economic thought, economic methodology, political economy, and philosophy of social science.

Author : Mario J. Rizzo,Glen Whitman
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
Page : 509 pages
File Size : 50,6 Mb
Release : 2019-12-05
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 9781107016941

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Escaping Paternalism by Mario J. Rizzo,Glen Whitman Pdf

A powerful critique of nudge theory and the paternalist policies of behavioral economics, and an argument for a more inclusive form of rationality.

Author : Kenneth J. Arrow
Publisher : Yale University Press
Page : 347 pages
File Size : 47,5 Mb
Release : 2012-06-26
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9780300186987

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Social Choice and Individual Values by Kenneth J. Arrow Pdf

Originally published in 1951, "Social Choice and Individual Values" introduced "Arrow's Impossibility Theorem" and founded the field of social choice theory in economics and political science. This new edition, including a new foreword by Nobel laureate Eric Maskin, reintroduces Arrow's seminal book to a new generation of students and researchers."Far beyond a classic, this small book unleashed the ongoing explosion of interest in social choice and voting theory. A half-century later, the book remains full of profound insight: its central message, 'Arrow's Theorem, ' has changed the way we think."--Donald G. Saari, author of "Decisions and Elections: Explaining the Unexpected "

Author : Morris Altman
Publisher : Edward Elgar Publishing
Page : 616 pages
File Size : 55,7 Mb
Release : 2017-05-26
Category : Electronic
ISBN : 9781782549598

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Handbook of Behavioural Economics and Smart Decision-Making by Morris Altman Pdf

This Handbook is a unique and original contribution of over thirty chapters on behavioural economics, examining and addressing an important stream of research where the starting assumption is that decision-makers are for the most part relatively smart or rational. This particular approach is in contrast to a theme running through much contemporary work where individuals’ behaviour is deemed irrational, biased, and error-prone, often due to how people are hardwired. In the smart people approach, where errors or biases occur and when social dilemmas arise, more often than not, improving the decision-making environment can repair these problems without hijacking or manipulating the preferences of decision-makers. This book covers a wide-range of themes from micro to macro, including various sub-disciplines within economics such as economic psychology, heuristics, fast and slow-thinking, neuroeconomics, experiments, the capabilities approach, institutional economics, methodology, nudging, ethics, and public policy.

Author : Colin F. Camerer,George Loewenstein,Matthew Rabin
Publisher : Princeton University Press
Page : 769 pages
File Size : 48,5 Mb
Release : 2011-12-12
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 9781400829118

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Advances in Behavioral Economics by Colin F. Camerer,George Loewenstein,Matthew Rabin Pdf

Twenty years ago, behavioral economics did not exist as a field. Most economists were deeply skeptical--even antagonistic--toward the idea of importing insights from psychology into their field. Today, behavioral economics has become virtually mainstream. It is well represented in prominent journals and top economics departments, and behavioral economists, including several contributors to this volume, have garnered some of the most prestigious awards in the profession. This book assembles the most important papers on behavioral economics published since around 1990. Among the 25 articles are many that update and extend earlier foundational contributions, as well as cutting-edge papers that break new theoretical and empirical ground. Advances in Behavioral Economics will serve as the definitive one-volume resource for those who want to familiarize themselves with the new field or keep up-to-date with the latest developments. It will not only be a core text for students, but will be consulted widely by professional economists, as well as psychologists and social scientists with an interest in how behavioral insights are being applied in economics. The articles, which follow Colin Camerer and George Loewenstein's introduction, are by the editors, George A. Akerlof, Linda Babcock, Shlomo Benartzi, Vincent P. Crawford, Peter Diamond, Ernst Fehr, Robert H. Frank, Shane Frederick, Simon Gächter, David Genesove, Itzhak Gilboa, Uri Gneezy, Robert M. Hutchens, Daniel Kahneman, Jack L. Knetsch, David Laibson, Christopher Mayer, Terrance Odean, Ted O'Donoghue, Aldo Rustichini, David Schmeidler, Klaus M. Schmidt, Eldar Shafir, Hersh M. Shefrin, Chris Starmer, Richard H. Thaler, Amos Tversky, and Janet L. Yellen.

Author : Michalis Drouvelis
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 128 pages
File Size : 51,6 Mb
Release : 2021
Category : Economics
ISBN : 1788214196

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Social Preferences by Michalis Drouvelis Pdf

This introduction to one of the key areas of behavioural economics - social preferences - explains in clear, nontechnical language how particular groups of experiments have been used by behavioural economists to shed light on the processes of economic decision making. These include bargaining games, trust games and public good games. The significance of determinants such as punishment, sanctioning, emotion, cooperation, reciprocity, leadership, framing and cross-cultural differences are demonstrated and explained, and students are provided with the understanding and resources needed to replica.

Author : Francois Maniquet,Marc Fleurbaey
Publisher : World Scientific
Page : 334 pages
File Size : 53,9 Mb
Release : 2012-03-14
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 9789813236950

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Equality Of Opportunity: The Economics Of Responsibility by Francois Maniquet,Marc Fleurbaey Pdf

Foreword by Eric Maskin (Nobel Laureate in Economics, 2007)This book is a collection of articles written by the two authors on the topic of equality of opportunity. All articles build on the idea that a just society should equalize the resources that determine the opportunities agents face in order to follow their goals. Resources are either external, like financial resources, or internal, like preferences or skills. The authors propose to define “equality of opportunity” as the combination of ethical principles of compensation and responsibility. The principle of compensation requires external resources to be used to compensate low-skilled agents (considering that inequalities due to skill differences are unjust). The principle of responsibility requires external resources to be allocated without regards to inequalities due to differences in preferences (considering that these inequalities are not unjust). The articles present different ways of combining the two principles in different economic contexts.The book offers many possible aspects of the analysis of equality of opportunity, ranging from axiomatic discussions in abstract compensation models, to the design of redistribution policies in concrete labor income taxation models.

Author : Adam Smith (économiste)
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 636 pages
File Size : 49,5 Mb
Release : 1812
Category : Electronic
ISBN : BCUL:1092833964

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The Theory of Moral Sentiments by Adam Smith (économiste) Pdf