Status quo bias in decision making

Most real decisions, unlike those of economics texts, have a status quo alternative—that is, doing nothing or maintaining one's current or previous decision. A series of decision-making experiments shows that individuals disproportionately stick with the status quo. Data on the selections of health plans and retirement programs by faculty members reveal that the status quo bias is substantial in important real decisions. Economics, psychology, and decision theory provide possible explanations for this bias. Applications are discussed ranging from marketing techniques, to industrial organization, to the advance of science.     

Action Bias and Environmental Decisions

Individuals have a penchant for action, often for good reasons. But action bias arises if that penchant is carried over to areas where those reasons do not apply, hence is nonrational. Action bias is explored theoretically, and then empirically, using data from surveys of hypothetical environmental decisions. Quite apart from agency considerations, individuals like to affect outcomes when gains are reaped. Given the ability to help one of two sites, we find that decision makers choose to foster improvement rather than prevent deterioration, despite framing that makes it arbitrary which site is improved, which preserved. Strong action bias—individuals choosing to reap gains even though they must impose losses—is also observed. These concepts are related to loss aversion, status quo bias, omission bias for losses, and bright-line behavior.     

我国外部经济失衡调节的政策趋向

2000年以来,我国国际收支顺差和外汇储备急剧增长,外部经济出现了失衡,已引起国内外政府官员、专家学者、业界人士的高度关注。如何调节外部经济失衡、实现内部与外部经济均衡正成为宏观经济理论与政策的热点课题。文章通过对我国外部经济失衡及其效应分析,重点研究了以财政政策为主的政策配合调节机制和完善内外经济均衡的长效机制。     

Behavioral insurance: Theory and experiments

“Risk and insurance” provides an illustrative set of decisions made in the presence of uncertainty. As behavioral models become more integrated into economics and finance, many of their effects are illustrated quite well within insurance markets. Especially noteworthy are the complementary roles of theory and experiments. This article reviews the interactive role of experiments and theory in analyzing insurance demand from a behavioral perspective. We pay special attention to several models of underinvestment in insurance or in other risk-mitigation markets.     

Economic perspectives on social exclusion

In this paper some economic perspectives on social exclusion are presented. The perspectives come from traditional areas of economics, especially human capital theory, and from the new area of behavioural economics, especially present bias and the status externality. They show that happiness, human capital and individual choice can yield insights for the study of social exclusion. The economic perspectives discussed in this paper can help respond to the suggestion by Mary Daly and Hilary Silver to move beyond the concept of social exclusion to a “fully‐articulated theory” of social exclusion. Furthermore they support the judgement of Ruth Levitas that in the public debate there is inadequate pressure for redistribution, excessive moral blame placed on the socially excluded, and an excessive concern for labour force participation at the expense of non‐market activity, as expressed in her development and discussion of the RED‐MUD‐SID framework of discourses.     

经济学是否需要人文精神?

科学被想象为纯粹的技术性和工具性的追求。但是事实上在科学和精神性之间存在着深层的联系可以用来改变我们对经济学的理解。在20世纪,阿尔伯特·爱因斯坦加强了精神性和创造性的科学工作之间的联系。在经济学领域,只有少数学者,尤其是亨利·乔治和约翰·凯恩斯发展了关系的有机视角。他们的整体的或者精神的视角是他们能够找到解决失业和贫困问题的新办法,而这些新的办法用还原主义的分析方法是无法充分表述的。因此,精神性不仅仅是一个私人的或者内在的经验,而且具有通过智慧成果带来社会和谐的巨大潜力。     

经济学的前景

在经济学的发展过程中 ,不同学术流派的形成往往是或主要是由于经济分析角度或方法的不同。经济学的裂变在很大程度上依赖于社会道德规范 ,不道德的经济学在现代经济学的发展过程中几乎不存在。经济学发展的美好前景主要并不在于经济学家个人的天赋 ,而完全取决于经济学同其他学科良好的分工与协作 ,合理地利用数学工具以及克服追赶潮流、追求时尚等传统弊端     

新政治经济学的诉求与向往

厘清新政治经济学的诉求与向往,实际上就是廓清经济学＂帝国主义＂在政治学中的扩张所带来的影响。新政治经济学的出发点是要解释市场体制的不完备性并探研政治世界的经济特征,而支撑这种学术努力的经济学方法主要是＂经济人＂假设、交易成本和政治市场。新政治经济学所向往的乃是一个政治领域的＂自由市场＂,它将政治学带回了＂真实世界＂,但自身仍面临着一个学科上的＂合法性问题＂。     

The Simplest Dynamic General-Equilibrium Model of an Open Economy

This paper presents the simplest possible general-equilibrium model of an open economy in which producer and consumer decisions are both intra- and intertemporally consistent. Consumers maximize the present value of the utility of consumption; producers maximize the present value of profits. The model solves for the set of intertemporally consistent prices. The parsimonious structure of the model is achieved by dividing the economy into two producing sectors—exports and domestic goods—and two consumed goods—imports and domestic goods. As a result, there is only one endogenous price per period to be solved for (the price of the domestic good), although “structural” questions, such as the evolution of the real exchange rate, can be posed with the model. Furthermore, with this structural breakdown, the model can be calibrated with national accounts data only. In the paper, we show how to calibrate such a model (including specification of an adjustment-cost function, to avoid “bang-bang” behavior) and use the model to examine various questions where intertemporal issues are important, including terms-of-trade shocks and tariff reform.     

邓小平制度经济理论与我国经济制度变迁

邓小平制度经济理论可以归纳为七个方面:(1)制度是生产力发展的关键因素,制度的优越性在于它能更好地促进生产力的发展;(2)在各种制度中,产权制度的作用最重要;(3)中国的宏观制度变迁是个渐进的过程;(4)人是现实的人,具有机会主义倾向,制度可以抑制人的机会主义动机及行为;(5)意识形态是重要的非正式制度安排,它可以降低正式制度的运行成本;(6)中国制度改革的关键是下放权力;(7)稳定的环境是市场经济运行的最基本条件。邓小平的制度经济理论对我国的社会经济制度变迁指明了方向,提供了理论基础。     

西方福利经济思想的发展演变及对我国的启示

西方福利经济学作为现代西方经济学的一个重要分支，一直都受到人们的重视。在我国改革开放30年的今天，随着经济不断发展，社会差距日益扩大，探讨福利经济学的发展演变对于指导我国的福利社会建设具有重要意义。     

From Keynes to a theoretical-political approach to conventional economics

The aim of this study is twofold. The first is to question the claim that the price system is the only form of coordination of individual actions. The attempt to overcome this assumption highlights the need for other forms of coordination to regulate behaviours that are not price-related, proposing the concept of Keynesian Convention as a special kind of coordination. The second is an effort to define the theoretical-political dimension of the economics of conventions. In fact, focusing on the strategic approach of conventions, depending on whether the concept of a convention is used to resolve problems finding a balance in coordination games, it seems reasonable to seek a political dimension of the economics of conventions. We will show how the assumptions underlying the theory of general economic balance are extremely restrictive, because they assume a complete lack of uncertainty or strategic interaction between the different agents. For the purpose of ensuring objectivity, we will highlight the role of the concept of the convention as a mechanism of coordination that transcends prices. Finally, although the standard theory strives to prove otherwise, the narrow path of validation is proof that an analysis of coordination cannot consider only the price system and is inseparable from the concept of rules.     

A citation analysis of economists in principles of economics textbooks

This paper uses citation analysis to identify those economists from the history of economic thought most often referenced in principles of economics textbooks. The textbooks considered for the study represent 10 of the top-selling principles textbooks in the field. The analysis includes a simple page count of the number of citations an economist receives in principles texts and a more thorough discussion of each specific economist’s contributions. The results generated mirror the results of previous citation analysis conducted on the entire field of economics.     

人口、资源与环境经济学学科的新发展

文章结合人口、资源与环境经济学学科的发展及学科体系建设的回顾和评价,对本学科及相关学科的最新进展进行了初步的概括和评述,对学科进一步的发展提出了一些建议,特别是建议应围绕绿色GDP、贸易与环境、企业环境管理、循环经济和节约型社会等重大理论与现实问题开展实证研究,以丰富人口、资源与环境经济学的理论基础。     

Nondestructive creation: Entrepreneurship and management research in the study of growth

Economists’ focus on institutions in explaining economic growth, while important, can obscure the significant role played by individual entrepreneurs and the process of entrepreneurship. The prevailing view of entrepreneurship in economics (which continues to shape prevailing public policies) centers on Schumpeter's famous concept of “creative destruction.” In the context of sustained high levels of economic growth, as in the recent American experience, I focus on a different feature of entrepreneurship—“nondestructive creation,” in which the uncoordinated contest of ideas and search for new applications of existing ideas generate growth. And this nondestructive creation should be analyzed and can be fostered.     

Does culture matter for the economic performance of countries? An overview of the literature

From the point of view of economic development, the world is far from being homogeneous. Among the possible causes of such uneven evolution, culture is starting to attract the attention of a growing number of scholars. The present paper surveys some of the most important contributions on culture and economics, with a particular focus on the definition and measurement of culture and on the impact of different cultural traits on economic variables. According to this review of the literature, cultures emphasising individual effort while providing equal opportunities for everyone are more likely to encourage sustained economic growth.     

Helping a Victim or Helping the Victim: Altruism and Identifiability

Although it has been claimed that people care more about identifiable than statistical victims, demonstrating this identifiable victim effect has proven difficult because identification usually provides information about a victim, and people may respond to the information rather than to identification per se. We show that a very weak form of identifiability—determining the victim without providing any personalizing information—increases caring. In the first, laboratory study, subjects were more willing to compensate others who lost money when the losers had already been determined than when they were about to be. In the second, field study, people contributed more to a charity when their contributions would benefit a family that had already been selected from a list than when told that the family would be selected from the same list.     

近代中国经济学的发展(英文)

在早期移植西方经济理论的过程中,近代留学生群体对中国现代经济学的产生、发展起了极其重要的作用。他们一方面运用现代经济理论分析中国经济问题,促进经济学的中国化、本土化,为解决中国经济问题寻求答案;另一方面敏锐把握经济学发展的时代脉搏,勇于创新,跻身世界经济学学术之林。     

试论哲学对经济学的影响

哲学对经济学的影响是与生俱来的,一部西方经济学理论的发展史,与西方哲学史的发展是密切相关的。主要包含有两大方面,其一,经济学体系中有关其基本前提“理性经济人”假设的认识和争议,受到了哲学理性概念的深刻影响;其二,哲学对经济学最为深刻的影响,就在于其为经济学家研究经济现象提供了理性演绎法、历史归纳法、实证分析、规范分析等工具和方法。