Choice Behavioural Economics And Addiction

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Choice, Behavioural Economics and Addiction

Author : Nick Heather
Publisher : Elsevier
ISBN 13 : 0080501109
Total Pages : 459 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (85 download)

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Book Synopsis Choice, Behavioural Economics and Addiction by : Nick Heather

Download or read book Choice, Behavioural Economics and Addiction written by Nick Heather and published by Elsevier. This book was released on 2003-11-13 with total page 459 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Choice, Behavioural Economics and Addiction is about the theory, data, and applied implications of choice-based models of substance use and addiction. The distinction between substance use and addiction is important, because many individuals use substances but are not also addicted to them. The behavioural economic perspective has made contributions to the analysis of both of these phenomena and, while the major focus of the book is on theories of addiction, it is necessary also to consider the behavioural economic account of substance use in order to place the theories in their proper context and provide full coverage of the contribution of behavioural economics to this field of study. The book discusses the four major theories of addiction that have been developed in the area of economic science/behavioural economics. They are: • hyperbolic discounting • melioration • relative addiction • rational addiction The main objective of the book is to popularise these ideas among addiction researchers, academics and practitioners. The specific aims are to articulate the shared and distinctive elements of these four theories, to present and discuss the latest empirical work on substance abuse and addiction that is being conducted in this area, and to articulate a range of applied implications of this body of work for clinical, public health and public policy initiatives. The book is based on an invitation-only conference entitled, Choice, Behavioural Economics and Addiction: Theory, Evidence and Applications held at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, March 30 - April 1, 2001. The conference was attended by prominent scientists and scholars, representing a range of disciplines concerned with theories of addiction and their consequences for policy and practice. The papers in the book are based on the papers given at the above conference, together with commentaries by distinguished experts and, in many cases, replies to these comments by the presenters.

Addiction

Author : Shahram Heshmat
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 1317684745
Total Pages : 308 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (176 download)

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Book Synopsis Addiction by : Shahram Heshmat

Download or read book Addiction written by Shahram Heshmat and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2015-05-22 with total page 308 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Addiction: A Behavioral Economic Perspective focuses on the behavioral economics of addiction to explain why someone decides and act against her own well-being. It answers the questions of what accounts for self-defeating behavior patterns and how do we best motivate individuals to act according with their long-term goals. A better understanding of decision processes will lead to an improved knowledge of why people engage in self-destructive behaviors and better policy interventions in areas of addiction and obesity. The approach also promises to be valuable as a framework for understanding decisions for an addict’s professional and business life. This book will be of particular use to clinicians, students, and researchers in the fields of addiction, public health, and behavior therapy.

Addiction

Author : Gene M. Heyman
Publisher : Harvard University Press
ISBN 13 : 0674057279
Total Pages : 213 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (74 download)

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Book Synopsis Addiction by : Gene M. Heyman

Download or read book Addiction written by Gene M. Heyman and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2010-10-15 with total page 213 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In a book sure to inspire controversy, Gene Heyman argues that conventional wisdom about addictionÑthat it is a disease, a compulsion beyond conscious controlÑis wrong. Drawing on psychiatric epidemiology, addictsÕ autobiographies, treatment studies, and advances in behavioral economics, Heyman makes a powerful case that addiction is voluntary. He shows that drug use, like all choices, is influenced by preferences and goals. But just as there are successful dieters, there are successful ex-addicts. In fact, addiction is the psychiatric disorder with the highest rate of recovery. But what ends an addiction? At the heart of HeymanÕs analysis is a startling view of choice and motivation that applies to all choices, not just the choice to use drugs. The conditions that promote quitting a drug addiction include new information, cultural values, and, of course, the costs and benefits of further drug use. Most of us avoid becoming drug dependent, not because we are especially rational, but because we loathe the idea of being an addict. HeymanÕs analysis of well-established but frequently ignored research leads to unexpected insights into how we make choicesÑfrom obesity to McMansionizationÑall rooted in our deep-seated tendency to consume too much of whatever we like best. As wealth increases and technology advances, the dilemma posed by addictive drugs spreads to new products. However, this remarkable and radical book points to a solution. If drug addicts typically beat addiction, then non-addicts can learn to control their natural tendency to take too much.

Behavioral Economics, Neurophysiology, Addiction and the Law

Author : Michael Louis Corrado
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 0 pages
Book Rating : 4.:/5 (137 download)

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Book Synopsis Behavioral Economics, Neurophysiology, Addiction and the Law by : Michael Louis Corrado

Download or read book Behavioral Economics, Neurophysiology, Addiction and the Law written by Michael Louis Corrado and published by . This book was released on 2010 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Has science anything to tell us about responsibility? Addiction is a particularly interesting test case. Two fields of science, behavioral economics and neurophysiology have lately given us a great deal of information about addiction, much of which may be useful to the law. When it comes to addiction, unfortunately, the two fields seem to point in opposite directions. Economics has provided us with models of addictive behavior based upon the supposition that addiction is the result of choice, a development that appears to support the conclusion that addictive behavior is not the product of "non-volitional forces." If addictive behavior can be fully accounted for in terms of the addict's choices, and if there is no need to postulate the existence of forces overwhelming the addict's will, is there any reason not to hold the addict fully responsible for what he does? Neurophysiology, on the other hand, has demonstrated that substance abuse causes significant changes in brain physiology, which appears to support the conclusion that addiction is a disease. If addiction corresponds to physical changes in the nervous system, then addiction is a disease, and addictive behavior is merely a symptom of the disease. We may be responsible for contracting a disease, but can we be held responsible for the symptoms once we have it? Science does have a good many things to tell us about addiction, but so far whether or not the addict is responsible for what he does is not among them. The fact that choice theories - rational addiction, behavioral economics - can develop models in which addiction is the result of choice should not surprise us: Did anyone ever believe that addicts did not intend to do what they were doing? Did anyone ever believe that addicts did not choose to do what they did? The question has always been whether those choices were free, and whether the addict was fully in control of his choices. That is the question that the law must deal with, and in this paper I argue that choice theories have nothing to say to that question. Neurophysiology, on the other hand, has made remarkable strides in tracing down the effects of heavy drug use on the brain. But that behavior should effect brain changes is not by itself remarkable, and does not entail that behavior is not fully voluntary. There are three possible conclusions. The first is that although science has yielded no results so far, we may hope for results in the future. The general nature of the arguments against drawing conclusions about responsibility from the existing literature makes that, if not entirely a vain hope, at least implausible. The second is that responsibility is simply one of the areas of human experience that is cut off from science; there must, therefore, be other ways of knowing what we do about addiction, control, and responsibility. And the third conclusion may be the most pessimistic of all, namely that responsibility itself is a confused notion, and that we should be skeptical about its role in the law.

Addiction and Choice

Author : Nick Heather
Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 0198727224
Total Pages : 529 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (987 download)

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Book Synopsis Addiction and Choice by : Nick Heather

Download or read book Addiction and Choice written by Nick Heather and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2017 with total page 529 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Views on addiction are often polarised - either addiction is a matter of choice, or addicts simply can't help themselves. But perhaps addiction falls between the two? This book contains views from philosophy, neuroscience, psychiatry, psychology, and the law exploring this middle ground between free choice and no choice.

Behavioral Economics and Public Health

Author : Christina A. Roberto
Publisher : Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN 13 : 019939833X
Total Pages : 385 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (993 download)

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Book Synopsis Behavioral Economics and Public Health by : Christina A. Roberto

Download or read book Behavioral Economics and Public Health written by Christina A. Roberto and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2016 with total page 385 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Behavioral economics has potential to offer novel solutions to some of today's most pressing public health problems: How do we persuade people to eat healthy and lose weight? How can health professionals communicate health risks in a way that is heeded? How can food labeling be modified to inform healthy food choices? Behavioral Economics and Public Health is the first book to apply the groundbreaking insights of behavioral economics to the persisting problems of health behaviors and behavior change. In addition to providing a primer on the behavioral economics principles that are most relevant to public health, this book offers details on how these principles can be employed to mitigating the world's greatest health threats, including obesity, smoking, risky sexual behavior, and excessive drinking. With contributions from an international team of scholars from psychology, economics, marketing, public health, and medicine, this book is a trailblazing new approach to the most difficult and important problems of our time.

Behavioral Economics and Healthy Behaviors

Author : Yaniv Hanoch
Publisher : Taylor & Francis
ISBN 13 : 1317269527
Total Pages : 236 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (172 download)

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Book Synopsis Behavioral Economics and Healthy Behaviors by : Yaniv Hanoch

Download or read book Behavioral Economics and Healthy Behaviors written by Yaniv Hanoch and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2017-05-18 with total page 236 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The field of behavioural economics can tell us a great deal about cognitive bias and unconscious decision-making, challenging the orthodox economic model whereby consumers make rational and informed choices. But it is in the arena of health that it perhaps offers individuals and governments the most value. In this important new book, the most pernicious health issues we face today are examined through a behavioral economic lens. It provides an essential and timely overview of how this growing field of study can reframe and offer solutions to some of the biggest health issues of our age. The book opens with an overview of the core theoretical concepts, after which each chapter assesses how behavioral economic research and practice can inform public policy across a range of health issues. Including chapters on tobacco, alcohol and drug use, physical activity, dietary intake, cancer screening and sexual health, the book integrates the key insights from the field to both developed and developing nations. Also asking important ethical questions around paternalism and informed choice, this book will be essential reading for students and researchers across psychology, economics and business and management, as well as public health professionals wishing for a concise overview of the role behavioral economics can potentially play in allowing people to live healthier lives.

Consumer Behaviour. Does Rational Addiction Exist?

Author : Lukas Dauner
Publisher : GRIN Verlag
ISBN 13 : 3668671206
Total Pages : 28 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (686 download)

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Book Synopsis Consumer Behaviour. Does Rational Addiction Exist? by : Lukas Dauner

Download or read book Consumer Behaviour. Does Rational Addiction Exist? written by Lukas Dauner and published by GRIN Verlag. This book was released on 2018-03-27 with total page 28 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Seminar paper from the year 2018 in the subject Economy - Health Economics, grade: 1,0, University of Hohenheim (Institut für Health Care & Public Management), language: English, abstract: It is proposed by Gary S. Becker and Kevin M. Murphy that addictive behavior could be usefully integrated in the rational choice framework. According to their theory, consumers are forward-looking in their decision making and calculate present and future consequences of consuming an addictive good. Becker and Murphy even claim that analyzing addictions as a rational choice offers new insights and a better understanding of addiction. Earlier economic models typically explain addictions with irrational or myopic behavior in which individuals ignore or highly discount the future when making their decisions. While the rational addiction model has become a standard tool in the economic analysis of addictive behavior, it has also been subject to much criticism. As shown in this paper, there is much evidence that model’s assumptions are unrealistic. It is argued however that the model’s predictions rather than its assumptions should be rejected based on the empirical evidence. By reviewing empirical studies which tested the Becker Murphy model, this paper seeks to examine to what extent the rational choice approach can be legitimately applied to addictive behavior. The model’s assumptions and implications will be explained. later, the main criticisms about the theory will be discussed. After that, the most relevant studies and their implications will be reviewed.

Choice Over Time

Author : George Loewenstein
Publisher : Russell Sage Foundation
ISBN 13 : 1610443659
Total Pages : 424 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (14 download)

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Book Synopsis Choice Over Time by : George Loewenstein

Download or read book Choice Over Time written by George Loewenstein and published by Russell Sage Foundation. This book was released on 1992-10-27 with total page 424 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Many of our most urgent national problems suggest a widespread lack of concern for the future. Alarming economic conditions, such as low national savings rates, declining corporate investment in long-term capital projects, and ballooning private and public debt are matched by such social ills as diminished educational achievement, environmental degradation, and high rates of infant mortality, crime, and teenage pregnancy. At the heart of all these troubles lies an important behavioral phenomenon: in the role of consumer, manager, voter, student, or parent, many Americans choose inferior but immediate rewards over greater long-term benefits. Choice Over Time offers a rich sampling of original research on intertemporal choice—how and why people decide between immediate and delayed consequences—from a broad range of theoretical and methodological perspectives in philosophy, political science, psychology, and economics. George Loewenstein, Jon Elster, and their distinguished colleagues review existing theories and forge new approaches to understanding significant questions: Why do people seem to "discount" future benefits? Do individuals use the same decision-making strategy in all aspects of their lives? What part is played by situational factors such as the certainty of delayed consequences? How are decisions affected by personal factors such as willpower and taste? In addressing these issues, the contributors to Choice Over Time address many social, economic, psychological, and personal time problems. Their work demonstrates the predictive power of short-term preferences in behavior as varied as addiction and phobia, the effect of prices on consumption, and the dramatic rise in debt and decline in savings. Choice Over Time provides an essential source for the most recent research and theory on intertemporal choice, offering new models for time preference patterns—and their aberrations—and presenting a diversity of potential solutions to the problem of "temporal myopia."

Addiction as Consumer Choice

Author : Gordon Foxall
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 113447217X
Total Pages : 239 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (344 download)

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Book Synopsis Addiction as Consumer Choice by : Gordon Foxall

Download or read book Addiction as Consumer Choice written by Gordon Foxall and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2016-02-12 with total page 239 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A striking characteristic of addictive behavior is the pursuit of immediate reward at the risk of longer-term detrimental outcomes. It is typically accompanied by the expression of a strong desire to cease from or at least control consumption that has such consequences, followed by lapse, further resolution, relapse, and so on. Understood in this way, addiction includes substance abuse as well as behavioral compulsions like excessive gambling or even uncontrollable shopping. Behavioral economics and neurophysiology provide well-worn paths to understanding this behavior and this book regards them as central components of this quest. However, the specific question it seeks to answer is, What part does cognition – the desires we pursue and the beliefs we have about how to accomplish them – play in explaining addictive behavior? The answer is sought in a methodology that indicates why and where cognitive explanation is necessary, the form it should take, and the outcomes of employing it to understand addiction. It applies the Behavioral Perspective Model (BPM) of consumer choice, a tried and tested theory of more routine consumption, ranging from everyday product and brand choice, through credit purchasing and environmental despoliation, to the more extreme aspects of consumption represented by compulsion and addiction. The book will advance debate among behavioral scientists, cognitive psychologists, and other professionals about the nature of economic and social behavior.

Thinking about Addiction

Author : Craig Hanson
Publisher : Rodopi
ISBN 13 : 9042026634
Total Pages : 155 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (42 download)

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Book Synopsis Thinking about Addiction by : Craig Hanson

Download or read book Thinking about Addiction written by Craig Hanson and published by Rodopi. This book was released on 2009 with total page 155 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What is addiction? Why do some people become addicted while others do not? Is the addict rational? In this book, Craig Hanson attempts to answer these questions and more. Using insights from the beginnings of philosophy to contemporary behavioral economics, Hanson attempts to assess the variety of ways in which we can and cannot, understand addiction. Special consideration is given to a challenging (and controversial) proposal dubbed “hyperbolic discounting.” Hanson proposes some modifications to the hyperbolic discounting view that permit it to explain not only addiction, but also a variety of psychological maladies, such as self-deception.

Behavioral Economics and Its Applications

Author : Peter Diamond
Publisher : Princeton University Press
ISBN 13 : 1400829143
Total Pages : 331 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (8 download)

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Book Synopsis Behavioral Economics and Its Applications by : Peter Diamond

Download or read book Behavioral Economics and Its Applications written by Peter Diamond and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2012-01-12 with total page 331 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the last decade, behavioral economics, borrowing from psychology and sociology to explain decisions inconsistent with traditional economics, has revolutionized the way economists view the world. But despite this general success, behavioral thinking has fundamentally transformed only one field of applied economics-finance. Peter Diamond and Hannu Vartiainen's Behavioral Economics and Its Applications argues that behavioral economics can have a similar impact in other fields of economics. In this volume, some of the world's leading thinkers in behavioral economics and general economic theory make the case for a much greater use of behavioral ideas in six fields where these ideas have already proved useful but have not yet been fully incorporated--public economics, development, law and economics, health, wage determination, and organizational economics. The result is an attempt to set the agenda of an important development in economics--an agenda that will interest policymakers, sociologists, and psychologists as well as economists. Contributors include Ian Ayres, B. Douglas Bernheim, Truman F. Bewley, Colin F. Camerer, Anne Case, Michael D. Cohen, Peter Diamond, Christoph Engel, Richard G. Frank, Jacob Glazer, Seppo Honkapohja, Christine Jolls, Botond Koszegi, Ulrike Malmendier, Sendhil Mullainathan, Antonio Rangel, Emmanuel Saez, Eldar Shafir, Sir Nicholas Stern, Jean Tirole, Hannu Vartiainen, and Timothy D. Wilson.

The Economics of Excess

Author : Harold Winter
Publisher : Stanford University Press
ISBN 13 : 0804780676
Total Pages : 287 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (47 download)

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Book Synopsis The Economics of Excess by : Harold Winter

Download or read book The Economics of Excess written by Harold Winter and published by Stanford University Press. This book was released on 2011-08-16 with total page 287 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Economics of Excess discusses both standard and behavioral economics as they apply to addiction, indulgence, and social policy. Chapter One provides a thorough discussion of economic models of addiction. The model developed in most detail takes into account both standard and behavioral approaches. The next three chapters examine specific indulgences: smoking, drinking, and overeating. The heart of this book is its comprehensive discussion of what is often referred to as the "new paternalism." Many economists are now challenging the more traditional belief that, unless they are harming others, people should be left to their own indulgences. As more and more economists are arguing for policies that are designed to protect people from themselves, this book offers a serious, yet accessible, discussion of the pros and cons of such interventions. Written in an approachable style, this book will serve researchers who are new to the economics of addiction and students in a variety of economics and policy courses alike.

Reframing Health Behavior Change With Behavioral Economics

Author : Warren K. Bickel
Publisher : Psychology Press
ISBN 13 : 1135683298
Total Pages : 439 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (356 download)

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Book Synopsis Reframing Health Behavior Change With Behavioral Economics by : Warren K. Bickel

Download or read book Reframing Health Behavior Change With Behavioral Economics written by Warren K. Bickel and published by Psychology Press. This book was released on 2000-02 with total page 439 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: With contributions from experts in experimental and clinical psychology & economics, this book examines the latest behavioral economic research on smoking, drug & alchohol abuse, obesity, gambling,etc. Ideal for psychologists, economists,& policy makers

The Economic Analysis of Substance Use and Abuse

Author : Frank J. Chaloupka
Publisher : University of Chicago Press
ISBN 13 : 0226100499
Total Pages : 398 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (261 download)

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Book Synopsis The Economic Analysis of Substance Use and Abuse by : Frank J. Chaloupka

Download or read book The Economic Analysis of Substance Use and Abuse written by Frank J. Chaloupka and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2009-02-15 with total page 398 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Conventional wisdom once held that the demand for addictive substances like cigarettes, alcohol, and drugs was unlike that for any other economic good and, therefore, unresponsive to traditional market forces. Recently, however, researchers from two disparate fields, economics and behavioral psychology, have found that increases in the overall price of an addictive substance can significantly reduce both the number of users and the amounts those users consume. Changes in the "full price" of addictive substances—including monetary value, time outlay, effort to obtain, and potential penalties for illegal use—yield marked variations in behavioral outcomes and demand. The Economic Analysis of Substance Use and Abuse brings these distinctive fields of study together and presents for the first time an integrated assessment of their data and results. Unique and innovative, this multidisciplinary volume will serve as an important resource in the current debates concerning alcohol and drug use and abuse and the impacts of legalizing illicit drugs.

Addiction

Author : Gene M. Heyman
Publisher : Harvard University Press
ISBN 13 : 0674264436
Total Pages : 213 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (742 download)

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Book Synopsis Addiction by : Gene M. Heyman

Download or read book Addiction written by Gene M. Heyman and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2010-10-15 with total page 213 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In a book sure to inspire controversy, Gene Heyman argues that conventional wisdom about addiction—that it is a disease, a compulsion beyond conscious control—is wrong. Drawing on psychiatric epidemiology, addicts’ autobiographies, treatment studies, and advances in behavioral economics, Heyman makes a powerful case that addiction is voluntary. He shows that drug use, like all choices, is influenced by preferences and goals. But just as there are successful dieters, there are successful ex-addicts. In fact, addiction is the psychiatric disorder with the highest rate of recovery. But what ends an addiction? At the heart of Heyman’s analysis is a startling view of choice and motivation that applies to all choices, not just the choice to use drugs. The conditions that promote quitting a drug addiction include new information, cultural values, and, of course, the costs and benefits of further drug use. Most of us avoid becoming drug dependent, not because we are especially rational, but because we loathe the idea of being an addict. Heyman’s analysis of well-established but frequently ignored research leads to unexpected insights into how we make choices—from obesity to McMansionization—all rooted in our deep-seated tendency to consume too much of whatever we like best. As wealth increases and technology advances, the dilemma posed by addictive drugs spreads to new products. However, this remarkable and radical book points to a solution. If drug addicts typically beat addiction, then non-addicts can learn to control their natural tendency to take too much.

Behavioural Economics: A Very Short Introduction

Author : Michelle Baddeley
Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 019107117X
Total Pages : 169 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (91 download)

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Book Synopsis Behavioural Economics: A Very Short Introduction by : Michelle Baddeley

Download or read book Behavioural Economics: A Very Short Introduction written by Michelle Baddeley and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2017-01-19 with total page 169 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Traditionally economists have based their economic predictions on the assumption that humans are super-rational creatures, using the information we are given efficiently and generally making selfish decisions that work well for us as individuals. Economists also assume that we're doing the very best we can possibly do - not only for today, but over our whole lifetimes too. But increasingly the study of behavioural economics is revealing that our lives are not that simple. Instead, our decisions are complicated by our own psychology. Each of us makes mistakes every day. We don't always know what's best for us and, even if we do, we might not have the self-control to deliver on our best intentions. We struggle to stay on diets, to get enough exercise and to manage our money. We misjudge risky situations. We are prone to herding: sometimes peer pressure leads us blindly to copy others around us; other times copying others helps us to learn quickly about new, unfamiliar situations. This Very Short Introduction explores the reasons why we make irrational decisions; how we decide quickly; why we make mistakes in risky situations; our tendency to procrastination; and how we are affected by social influences, personality, mood and emotions. The implications of understanding the rationale for our own financial behaviour are huge. Behavioural economics could help policy-makers to understand the people behind their policies, enabling them to design more effective policies, while at the same time we could find ourselves assaulted by increasingly savvy marketing. Michelle Baddeley concludes by looking forward, to see what the future of behavioural economics holds for us. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.