MODERN DEVELOPMENTS IN BEHAVIORAL ECONOMICS: SOCIAL SCIENCE PERSPECTIVES ON CHOICE AND DECISION MAKING

This book examines the field of behavioral economics and provides insights into the following questions: The book looks at decision making and behavior from the point of view of (i) individual behavior and choice; (ii) group and interactive choice; and (iii) collective choices and decision making.

In particular, it covers the following aspects: instances when bounded rationality leads to decisions inconsistent with standard economic assumptions; risk and the processes by which investors and consumers make decisions; altruistic and cooperative behavior as alternatives to competition; game theory as a way to explore motives of cooperation versus competition; the determinants of happiness and the relationship between utility and well-being; the concept of social capital, including motivations for charity and being a responsible citizen; how trust and fairness relate to economic actions and the motivation to cooperate rather than compete; behavior such as crime, corruption and bribery from ethical, social and economic viewpoints; and, finally, the decision making process of collective choice and how societies develop rules for governing themselves.