Recent Developments in Behavioral Economics, Edward Elgar, S. Maital (Ed.}. Cheltenhen, UK and Northampton, MA, USA (2007). Price: $215, ISBN: 978-1-84542-4060

摘要

Shlomo Maital's Recent Developments in Behavioral Economics provides a most helpful collection of articles. Its theme is the extent to which the tools of economics are being modified to help us make better choices and live more fulfilling lives-more ambitious, in fact, than the basic objective of behavioral economics, which is to better describe the real world, replacing traditional maximizing assumptions of human behavior with those indicated by the findings of psychology, the other behavioral disciplines, neurology, and the work of economists following in those footsteps. Maital, a sometimes overlooked but stimulating early contributor to behavioral economics, provides a valuable introduction, written from the point of view of an imaginary, also overlooked professor who is, nonetheless, appreciative of what others have contributed. The volume is one of several recent collections in behavioral economics. It does not aim at providing an essentially taxonomic overview, as does Altman's Handbook of Contemporary Behavioral Economics (2006), or an in-depth analysis of a number of major topics, as does Camerer, Loewenstein and Rabin's Advances in Behavioral Economics. Nor does it attempt to grapple with how the newly emerging focus might contribute to a fuller development of several specific areas, as does the Diamond and Vartianinen collection (2007), but for someone who wants to understand the gist of behavioral economics, how it got to where it is, and where its humane potential may lie, there is no better guide.