This setting lets you change the way you view articles. You can choose to have articles open in a dialog window, a new tab, or directly in the same window.
Open in Dialog
Open in New Tab
Open in same window
Open in New Tab
Open in same window
Journal of Economic Perspectives: Vol. 9 No. 2 (Spring 1995)
JEP Volume. 9, Issue 2 | 
Previous ArticleNext Article
Sign up for Email Alerts Follow us on Twitter
Full-text Article (Complimentary)
View Comments on This Article (0) | Login to post a comment
Previous ArticleNext Article
Expand
Quick Tools:
Print Article Summary Email Link to this Article Export CitationSign up for Email Alerts Follow us on Twitter
Explore:
The Ethology of Homo Economicus
Article Citation
Persky, Joseph. 1995. "The Ethology of Homo Economicus."
Journal of Economic Perspectives,
9(2): 221-231.
DOI: 10.1257/jep.9.2.221
DOI: 10.1257/jep.9.2.221
Abstract
Early critics of John Stuart Mill attacked him for creating a monomaniacal economic man concerned only with the accumulation of money. In fact, Mill's construct possessed a considerably richer psychology including desires for leisure, luxury, and sexual relations. This psychology played a central role in Mill's analysis of alternative institutional regimes. Mill also considered the social origins, or 'ethology,' of preference structures. Mill's framework provides a useful reference point for ongoing work in comparative economics and feminist economics. In particular, Mill's emphasis on psychological parsimony needs careful reconsideration by advocates of enriching the motives of economic man.
Article Full-Text Access
Full-text Article (Complimentary)
Authors
Persky, Joseph (U IL, Chicago)
JEL Classifications
B12: History of Thought: Classical (includes Adam Smith
Comments
View Comments on This Article (0) | Login to post a comment
