Stabilní preference a proměnlivé restrikce - přístup Gary S. Beckera

Stable tastes and variable restrictions - G. S. Becker's approach

Mojmír Hampl

Politická ekonomie, 1999, vol. 1999, issue 4

Abstract: This article focuses on a critical evaluation of the G.S. Becker's approach in the field of tastes analysis. Becker in his recent work Accounting for Tastes (1997) came with the wholly new paradigm. While neoclassical economy treats the tastes like the so called "black box", it means like very unstable and unpredictable economic category, Becker offers absolutely different point of view. In his analysis, tastes are not exogenous in the neoclassical sense. Instead of treating them as exogenous off-an alysis category, he suggests treating them as a standard endogenous category it means as the subject of scientific investigation. According to this approach, tastes do not differ substantially among economic agents. Agents have got different restrictions only (different incomes, time restrictions e.g.). To support this idea Becker have to redefine some previous microeconomic analysis tools and categories. Only substantial redefinition of these categories enables him to verify his revolutionary theory. This article asks to what extent this approach is correct and useful for next economic research. By comparing the Becker's methodology with this of R. Lucas, the article leads to a conclusion that Becker's methodology makes it unable to create predictions that could become a subject of any reasonable verification.

Keywords: exogenous tastes; endogenous tastes; restrictions; utility function (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 1999
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DOI: 10.18267/j.polek.56

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