Adam Smith , Behavioral

Religion and Spirituality: Adam Smith versus J-J Rousseau

Adam Smith and J-J Rousseau share some common ground when it comes to religion, namely that they were born into  and educated in cultural contexts deeply shaped by Reformed Christianity. However, close consideration of their writings on religion reveal marked difference. This paper explores those differences and finds that Rousseau and Smith are radically at odds on this score. Smith has almost...

Adam Smith , Behavioral Economist

Richard Thaler and the Rise of Behavioral Economics

The emergence of behavioral economics is one of the most significant conceptual developments in the social sciences in the past 40 years. The central figure in the field in its early years was Richard Thaler. In this article, I review and discuss his scientific contributions. JEL classification: B2, D9, G1

Adam Smith, Behavioral Economist

I n The Wealth of Nations, published in 1776, Adam Smith famously argued that economic behavior was motivated by self-interest. But 17 years earlier in 1759, Smith had proposed a theory of human behavior that looks anything but selfinterested. In his first book, The Theory of Moral Sentiments, Smith argued that behavior was determined by the struggle between what Smith termed the “passions” and...

Who are the Behavioral Economists and what do they say?

The most important financial source for behavioral economics is the Russell Sage Foundation (RSF). The most prominent behavioral economists among the RSF’s twentysix member Behavioral Economics Roundtable (BER) are Kahneman, Tversky, Thaler, Camerer, Loewenstein, Rabin, and Laibson. The theoretical core of behavioral economics made up of the work of these seven researchers is positioned in oppo...