Document Type

Article

Language

eng

Format of Original

32 p.

Publication Date

8-10-2005

Publisher

Tinbergen Institute

Source Publication

Tinbergen Institute Discussion Paper

Source ISSN

0929-0834

Abstract

This paper reviews three distinct strategies in recent economics for using the concept of social identity in the explanation of individual behavior: Akerlof and Kranton’s neoclassical approach, Sen’s commitment approach, and Kirman et al.’s complexity approach. The primary focus is the multiple selves problem and the difficulties associated with failing to explain social identity and personal identity together. The argument of the paper is that too narrow a scope for reflexivity in individual decisionmaking renders the problem intractable, but that enlarging this scope makes it possible to explain personal and social identity together in connection with an individual behavior termed comparative value-objective evaluation. The paper concludes with recommendations for treating the individual objective function as a production function.

Comments

Published version. Tinbergen Institute Discussion Paper, Vol 078, No. 2 (August 10, 2005): 1-30. Publisher Link. © 2005 Tinbergen Institute. Used with permission.

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