Rationality and choices in economics: behavioral and evolutionary approaches

Mario Graziano and Daniele Schiliro'

MPRA Paper from University Library of Munich, Germany

Abstract: The paper critically discusses the issue of rationality and choices in economics in both the behavioural and evolutionary approaches. Our study aims, on the one hand, to highlight the scientific contributions of psychology in economics, since psychology, and with it the theoretical approach of the behavioral economics, has made more complex and problematic the analysis of economic choices, showing the limits of rationality. On the other hand, the work offers a reinterpretation of the theory of Alfred Marshall in a biologicalevolutionary perspective. The reinterpretation of Marshall's theory in a evolutionary perspective aims to show that, historically, economics has not been a discipline aligned in a homogenous way to a single and undifferentiated thought, locked into the idea of perfect rationality, but, on the opposite, is a discipline that has enriched itself and continually is enriching by contributions and significant contaminations with other research fields.

Keywords: rationality; choices; behavioral economics; evolutionary theories; biology (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: B13 B52 D01 D03 D81 D90 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2012-01
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cbe, nep-evo, nep-hme, nep-hpe and nep-neu
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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Related works:
Journal Article: RATIONALITY AND CHOICES IN ECONOMICS: BEHAVIORAL AND EVOLUTIONARY APPROACHES (2011)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:pra:mprapa:35971

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