Habit, decision making, and rationality: comparing Veblen and early Herbert Simon

Olivier Brette (), Nathalie Lazaric and Victor Vieira da Silva
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Olivier Brette: TRIANGLE - Triangle : action, discours, pensée politique et économique - ENS de Lyon - École normale supérieure de Lyon - Université de Lyon - UL2 - Université Lumière - Lyon 2 - IEP Lyon - Sciences Po Lyon - Institut d'études politiques de Lyon - Université de Lyon - UJM - Université Jean Monnet - Saint-Étienne - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique
Victor Vieira da Silva: Lycée Edouard Herriot

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Abstract: The article aims to contribute to the convergence between institutional and neo-Schumpeterian evolutionary economics. It intends to help unify the behavioral foundations of these two strands of thought by returning to the original views of their main historical inspirations. It thus proposes a comparative analysis of the theory of human behavior developed by Thorstein Veblen and Herbert Simon, respectively. The article notably discusses how Simon's early work links together the notions of habit, rationality, and the decision-making process, and explores the extent to which his views are consistent with, complementary to, or divergent from Veblen's. The article highlights several commonalities between Simon and Veblen's views on habits. However, Simon departs from Veblen in developing a dual model of human behavior which clearly differentiates habit-based from decision-based behaviors. The article argues that neo-Schumpeterian evolutionary economists should go beyond this binary model and build on the pragmatist-Veblenian approach, in which these two dimensions are intimately entangled. This process could allow the economists in question to take advantage of the most valuable insights of institutional economics regarding the interactions between individual choices and habits and institutions.

Keywords: learning; decision; rationality; routines; habit; Veblen; decision; rationality (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://shs.hal.science/halshs-01310305v1
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

Published in Journal of Economic Issues, 2017, 51 (3), pp.567-587. ⟨10.1080/00213624.2017.1353866⟩

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:halshs-01310305

DOI: 10.1080/00213624.2017.1353866

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