Performativity Rationalized

Francesco Guala
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Francesco Guala: University of Milan

Chapter Chapter 2 in Enacting Dismal Science, 2016, pp 29-52 from Palgrave Macmillan

Abstract: Abstract Economic sociologists have been criticized for using the term ‘performativity’ in a way that seems unfaithful to Austin’s notion. In this paper, I defend this usage against Uskali Mäki’s challenge, in particular, his claim that economic theories cannot constitute illocutionary acts. To counter this claim, I argue that performative speech acts play primarily a coordinating role by manipulating agents’ beliefs, and this is the same role that theories like the Black–Scholes model of option pricing play in financial markets, if MacKenzie’s historical reconstruction is right.

Keywords: Nash Equilibrium; Coordination Game; Constitutive Rule; Scholes Model; Wedding Ceremony (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:pal:pfschp:978-1-137-48876-3_2

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DOI: 10.1057/978-1-137-48876-3_2

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