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on Evolutionary Economics |
| By: | Ariel Rubinstein |
| Date: | 2005–11–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cla:levrem:784828000000000539&r=evo |
| By: | William R. Latham (Department of Economics,University of Delaware); Christian Le Bas |
| Abstract: | A growing body empirical literature deals with persistence in innovation. However, there is neither a survey of the development and status of the field nor a clear statement of a theory of persistence which includes a formal model of the dynamics of firm persistence. This paper fills these gaps by first providing a survey of previous studies of persistence, then presenting a theory, based on the evolutionary approach, to explain the choice of firms to innovate persistently, sporadically or not at all, and finally describing a formal model which shows some striking results corroborated by recent empirical evidence. |
| Keywords: | Persistence, Innovation, Evolutionary |
| JEL: | O31 B52 |
| Date: | 2005 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dlw:wpaper:05-14&r=evo |
| By: | Steven M. Suranovic (The George Washington University); Robert S. Goldfarb (The George Washington University) |
| Abstract: | This paper presents a behavioral economics model with bounded rationality to describe an individual¡¯s food consumption choices that lead to weight gain and dieting. Using a physiological relationship determining calories needed to maintain weight, we simulate the food consumption choices of a representative female over a 30 year period. Results show that a diet will reduce weight only temporarily. Recurrence of weight gain leads to cyclical dieting, which reduces the trend rate of weight increase. Dieting frequency is shown to depend on decision period length, dieting costs, and habit persistence. |
| Keywords: | Dieting, Behavioral economics, Weight cycles, |
| JEL: | I |
| Date: | 2005–11–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wpa:wuwphe:0511002&r=evo |
| By: | Victor I. Danilov; Ariane Lambert-Mogiliansky |
| Abstract: | Instances of non-commutativity are pervasive in human behavior. In this paper, we suggest that psychological properties such as attitudes, values, preferences and beliefs may be suitably described in terms of the mathematical formalism of quantum mechanics. We expose the foundations of non-classical measurement theory building on a simple notion of orthospace and ortholattice (logic). Two axioms are formulated and the characteristic state-property duality is derived. A last axiom concerned with the impact of measurements on the state takes us with a leap toward the Hilbert space model of Quantum Mechanics. An application to behavioral sciences is proposed. First, we suggest an interpretation of the axioms and basic properties for human behavior. Then we explore an application to decision theory in an example of preference reversal. We conclude by formulating basic ingredients of a theory of actualized preferences based in non-classical measurement theory. |
| Date: | 2005 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pse:psecon:2005-37&r=evo |
| By: | Ottorino Chillemi (University of Padua); Benedetto Gui (University of Padua); Lorenzo Rocco (University of Padua) |
| Abstract: | The paper studies, in a repeated interaction setting, how the presence of cooperative agents in a heterogeneous community organized in groups, affects group efficiency and stability. The paper extends the literature by assuming that each type can profitably mimic other types. It is shown that such enlargement of profitable options prevents group stabilization in the single group case. Stabilization can be obtained with many groups, but its driver is not the efficiency gain due to the presence of cooperative individuals. Instead stabilization is the result of free riding opportunities. |
| JEL: | D64 D71 D82 |
| Date: | 2005–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pad:wpaper:0007&r=evo |
| By: | Maurizio Pugno |
| Abstract: | Sen’s capability approach to the assessment of individual well-being and welfare policies, and to the search for theoretical foundations of a paradigm of human development, is challenged by a puzzling fact. In rich countries where material wealth and liberties are at high levels, a significant fraction of the population exhibit malaise in the form of depression, anxiety, addiction, conflicts within the family and among adolescent peers. This evidence suggests that consideration should be made of an additional functioning which is neglected by the capability approach: that of the mind in humans, i.e. the self. This addition is crucial because the self also evaluates well-being, and regulates the capability of choosing. Contributions from psychology, neuroscience, and psychiatry point out that the self is a construct built up by accumulating beliefs based on new and recalled information as a largely non-conscious process. This activity is self-serving, and may inflate or deflate the self-image, thus impairing the functioning of the self in its relation with the world. This problem seems to begin when primary close relationships thwart the feeling of the non-conscious self during infancy, although material care may be guaranteed. Policy implications for the educational and mental health system are briefly drawn. |
| Keywords: | capability approach,well-being,self,relatedness,unconscious,attachment,intrinsic motivations |
| JEL: | A12 D81 I31 |
| Date: | 2005 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:trn:utwpde:0518&r=evo |
| By: | Alexander Harin (Modern University for the Humanities) |
| Abstract: | A man is a key subject of economics and economic theory. “A man is irrational” - this opinion can be made from Allais paradox, risk aversion and other well-known fundamental problems. For a long time, this opinion was a barrier to proper solution of these problems and the development of the economic theory. A radically new approach has been proposed. It considers arrangement infringement possibility as a quite different source of such problems. It opens a quite different way to solve them and remove this barrier. It helps economists to open new and rediscover old fields and trends for the research. |
| Keywords: | “non-ideal” economics, risk, market, bank, industry, development |
| JEL: | C C7 D81 G11 G22 H O |
| Date: | 2005–11–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wpa:wuwppe:0511005&r=evo |