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  3. American Economic Journal: Microeconomics
  4. May 2019
  5. Behavioral Economics and the Atheoretical Style

Behavioral Economics and the Atheoretical Style

  • Ran Spiegler
American Economic Journal: Microeconomics
vol. 11, no. 2, May 2019
(pp. 173-94)
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Abstract

Behavioral economics is widely perceived to be part of the profession's shift away from a culture that places abstract theory at its center. I present a critical discussion of the atheoretical style with which "behavioral" themes are often disseminated: a purely anecdotal style in popular expositions, simplistic cost-benefit modeling in pieces that target a wide audience of academic economists, and the practice of capturing psychological forces by distorting familiar functional forms. I argue that the subject of "psychology and economics" is intrinsically foundational, and that a heavier dose of abstract theorizing is essential for it to realize its transformative potential.

Citation

Spiegler, Ran. 2019. "Behavioral Economics and the Atheoretical Style." American Economic Journal: Microeconomics, 11 (2): 173-94. DOI: 10.1257/mic.20170007

Additional Materials

JEL Classification

  • B40 Economic Methodology: General
  • D90 Micro-Based Behavioral Economics: General
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