Identity Economics 2016: Where Do Social Distinctions and Norms Come From?

Rachel E. Kranton

American Economic Review, 2016, vol. 106, issue 5, 405-09

Abstract: Identity economics provides a framework to analyze economic outcomes by establishing people's identities--not just pecuniary incentives--as primary motivations for choice. The heart of the framework is social difference and norms. This paper engages the emerging economic research into sources of divisions and norms: individuals, families, schools, governments, and social movements. The task at hand is to further to develop the micro-foundations of identity, in order to build a socially framed understandings of human motivation that will yield more robust accounts of behavior and institutions and yet better predictions of the implications of policy.

JEL-codes: D11 D71 Z13 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
Note: DOI: 10.1257/aer.p20161038
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (66)

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