Reconciling Normative and Behavioural Economics Guilhem Lecouteux

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Reconciling Normative and Behavioural Economics Guilhem Lecouteux Reconciling Normative and Behavioural Economics Guilhem Lecouteux To cite this version: Guilhem Lecouteux. Reconciling Normative and Behavioural Economics. Economics and Finance. Ecole Polytechnique, 2015. English. tel-01175744 HAL Id: tel-01175744 https://pastel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-01175744 Submitted on 12 Jul 2015 HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est archive for the deposit and dissemination of sci- destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents entific research documents, whether they are pub- scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, lished or not. The documents may come from émanant des établissements d’enseignement et de teaching and research institutions in France or recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires abroad, or from public or private research centers. publics ou privés. ÉCOLE DOCTORALE DE L’ÉCOLE POLYTECHNIQUE THÈSE pour l’obtention du titre de Docteur de l’École Polytechnique Mention : Sciences Économiques Présentée et soutenue par Guilhem Lecouteux Reconciling Normative and Behavioural Economics Thèse dirigée par Francis Bloch et Robert Sugden soutenue le 27 Mai 2015 Jury : Rapporteurs : Franz Dietrich - CNRS & Paris School of Economics Natalie Gold - King’s College London Directeurs : Francis Bloch - Paris School of Economics Robert Sugden - University of East Anglia Président : Richard Arena - Université Nice - Sophia Antipolis Examinateurs : Till Grüne-Yanoff - KTH Royal Institute of Technology Guillaume Hollard - CNRS & École Polytechnique Marco Mariotti - Queen Mary University of London Remerciements Rédiger mes remerciements de thèse constitue un moment privilégié dans mon parcours de chercheur, car cela signifie la fin d’une importante étape, mais aussi que le moment est venu de remercier comme il se doit toutes les personnes qui m’ont supporté et sans lesquelles cette thèse n’aurait pas été ce qu’elle est aujourd’hui. C’est également une tâche difficile, car — contrairement au reste de ce manuscrit qui n’intéressera probablement que les lecteurs intéressés — il est fort probable que, parmi les rares personnes qui tiendront un jour entre leurs mains ce manuscrit, tous finiront nécessairement par lire ces quelques lignes (un des principaux enseignements que j’ai retiré de mon parcours universitaire est en effet que, quelque soit la discipline, toute personne lisant une thèse est irrésistiblement attirée par la section contenant les remerciements de son auteur). Je ferai donc de mon mieux pour mener cette tâche à bien, et je m’excuse par avance auprès de toutes les personnes que j’aurais omises de citer, ou qui s’estimeraient lésées de ne pas avoir la place qu’elles méritent (afin d’éviter tout soupçon de favoritisme, les noms sont donnés par ordre chronologique puis alphabétique). Mes premiers remerciements s’adressent tout naturellement à mes deux di- recteurs de thèse, Francis Bloch et Bob Sugden. Ce travail leur doit énormément et j’ai pleinement conscience de l’immense chance que j’ai eue d’avoir pu effectuer ma thèse sous leur direction. J’ai rencontré Francis en 2011 au cours de mon master, et j’envisageais alors de commencer une thèse en théorie des jeux sur les négociations internationales. Ayant déjà trouvé un stage, mais disposant également d’une année de financement supplémentaire de la part de l’ENS Cachan entre mon master et la thèse, nous avons décidé que j’effectuerai un stage de recherche d’un an avant de débuter officiellement ma thèse. La réalisation de mon mémoire de master m’a néanmoins fait bifurquer vers des thématiques plus générales liées au choix rationnel et aux problèmes d’action collective, et Francis a accepté de m’encadrer en thèse à partir de Septembre 2012 sur les aspects de théorie des jeux de mon projet. Souhaitant également travailler sur des aspects plus philosophiques du choix rationnel, Francis a spontanément évoqué Bob comme un possible co-encadrant de thèse, qui a lui aussi accepté de superviser ma recherche. Bob m’a alors accueilli durant ma première année de thèse à Norwich, à une période où mon projet de recherche était encore en construction. C’est durant ce séjour que j’ai découvert le problème de réconciliation, qui constitue désormais la thématique centrale de cette thèse, auquel j’ai pu appliquer le modèle de préférences sur lequel je travaillais depuis mon stage de master. Je les remercie ii tous deux pour avoir su m’offrir un encadrement d’une excellente qualité — je me suis assez rapidement rendu compte que beaucoup de thésards n’avaient pas ma chance d’avoir des directeurs prêts à rencontrer leurs étudiants sur une base hebdomadaire... —, pour la grande liberté qu’ils m’ont laissée dans la définition de mon projet de recherche, et ainsi que pour leur patience et leur soutien sans faille, malgré ma légère hybris et mon caractère qui a pu se révéler obstiné de temps à autre. C’est aussi la complémentarité de deux directeurs qu’apparemment peu de choses réunissaient d’un point de vue académique qui a fait de cette thèse une ex- périence inoubliable sur le plan humain et intellectuel. Merci à vous deux pour tout. Je tiens également à remercier Franz Dietrich et Natalie Gold pour avoir accepté d’être rapporteurs de cette thèse, ainsi que Richard Arena, Till Grüne-Yanoff, Guillaume Hollard et Marco Mariotti pour le temps qu’ils ont consacré à faire progresser ma recherche en acceptant de participer à mon jury de thèse. Il ne fait aucun doute que leurs commentaires et suggestions au cours de la présoutenance ont contribué à améliorer significativement la qualité de ce travail. Je les remercie par avance pour notre discussion au cours de la soutenance. Cette thèse a aussi bénéficié de diverses collaborations que j’ai pu développer au cours de ces dernières années. Je tiens tout d’abord à adresser un remerciement tout particulièrement hétérodoxe à Léonard Moulin, co-auteur d’un article sur les potentiels effets ségrégatifs des frais d’inscriptions dans l’enseignement supérieur, qui a trouvé sa place dans sa propre thèse plutôt que dans celle-ci. Pour avoir trouvé un nudge adéquat il y a quelques années, il peut être considéré comme le principal responsable de mon addiction aux conférences, ce qui a indirectement contribué à profondément enrichir cette thèse, et directement contribué à épuiser les fonds de recherche de Francis. Je tiens également à remercier Gerardo Infante, co-auteur avec Bob du premier chapitre de cette thèse. Enfin, je remercie Lauren Larrouy, co-autrice d’un article qui se situe dans la directe continuation de la seconde partie de cette thèse, mais qui n’était pas encore suffisamment finalisé pour pouvoir être intégré dans le présent manuscrit. En plus des chercheurs avec qui j’ai eu la chance de directement collaborer, ce travail doit beaucoup aux nombreux échanges que j’ai pu avoir au cours de ma thèse avec d’autres chercheurs, principalement au cours des (trop ?) nombreuses conférences auxquelles j’ai eu l’opportunité de présenter mes travaux. Je tiens en particulier à exprimer toute ma gratitude à ceux qui ont pris le temps de lire en détail certains de mes travaux et de m’avoir fait partager leurs commentaires iii et suggestions, à savoir Daniel Hausman sur le chapitre1, Andy Denis, John Davis et Dorian Jullien sur le chapitre2, ainsi que André Lapidus, Adrien Lutz et Jean-Pierre Potier sur une version préliminaire du chapitre4. Je remercie également Mauro Boianovsky, Mikaël Cozic, Jurgis Karpus, Jean-Sébastien Gharbi, Cyril Hédoin, Tom Juille, Larry Samuelson et Jean-Christophe Vergnaud pour leurs commentaires et suggestions sur différentes parties de ce travail. La plupart de ces rencontres ont été rendues possibles par mes nombreux déplacements à l’étranger, et je tiens à m’excuser auprès de l’atmosphère et des générations futures pour les plus de 24 tonnes de CO2 que ces déplacements ont générées. J’ai pu bénéficier au cours de ma thèse d’un excellent environnement de travail au sein du département d’économie de l’École Polytechnique, ainsi qu’au sein de département d’économie de University of East Anglia où j’ai passé ma première année de thèse en 2012-2013. Je souhaite tout d’abord exprimer mes plus vifs remerciements à Ophélie Doucet, Eliane Madelaine, Chantal Poujouly, Lyza Racon et Sri Srikandan, grâce à qui j’ai pu effectuer ma recherche dans les meilleures con- ditions administratives et informatiques. Au delà de ces considérations matérielles, je les remercie pour leur accueil au sein du département d’économie ainsi que pour leur convivialité. Je tiens également à remercier les différents chercheurs avec qui j’ai pu discuter de ma recherche au sein de ces deux institutions, à savoir notamment Raicho Bojilov, Yukio Koriyama, Jean-François Laslier, Eduardo Perez, Jean-Pierre Ponssard et Anders Poulsen. Au delà du caractère purement académique de ces années passées à Palaiseau et Norwich, c’est probablement grâce à mes camarades doctorants que cette thèse a pu se dérouler dans les meilleures conditions, en m’offrant notamment une source d’inspiration inépuisable pour les nombreuses illustrations qui peuplent cette thèse, qu’il s’agisse des choix d’épargne de certains, des paris sportifs de d’autres, ou encore de la réservation d’un avion pour une conférence au bout du monde. Pour nos soirées Académiques, les parties de pétanque, les dégustations de chocolat, les cafés aléatoires du Bôbar, et bien plus encore, je tiens à remercier les désormais docteurs Bora Erdamar, Vanina Forget, Antonin Macé, Hypatia Nassopoulos, Ali Ihsan Ozkes et Rafael Treibich, les presque docteurs de ma génération Thomas André, Jeanne Commault, Esther Delbourg, Arnaud Goussebaille, Alda Kabré, Yang Liu et Gwenael Roudaut, et enfin tous ceux qui peuvent encore pleinement profiter des joies de la thèse, Reda Aboutajdine, Faddy Ardian, Sebastian Franco Bedoya, Margot Hovsepian, Alena Kotelnikova, Christine Lavaur, Alexis Louaas, Hugo Molina et Julie Pernaudet.
Recommended publications
  • Welfare Economy
    Welfare Economy Chapter 1 Welfare, an individual and collective concept We present what is welfare for economists, we elaborate the bedrock of normative economics Winter 2019 Université de Tours - A. Chassagnon Welfare Economics Welfare economics aims to define and to measure social welfare, and to provide evaluations of public policies. A typical question : between different economic situations, more precisely, between different resource allocations, which is the best ? It follows that a deep critical analysis of the instruments is required in that field. Individual and collective welfare First, the welfare should be defined at the individual level. There are many measures It could be a declarative measure : how do you feel your welfare is ? It could be the utility of consumption : What bundle do you prefer ? Second, the welfare should be defined at the collective level There are many measures From a qualitative point of vue, definition of the Pareto optimal allocations From a quantitative point of vue, consider weighted average of the utilities Vocabulary All of those words should be reviewed (in textbooks or in wikipedia) • declarative measure • Bundle (of goods) • weighted average • qualitative measure • quantitative measure • Welfare • Utility function • Allocation (of resources) Map of the talk 1) Individual welfare Declarative welfare, Happiness, Utility functions Time and Inter-country comparisons 2) Collective welfare Pareto optimal (or efficient) allocations Social Welfare Functions and utilities 1a. Individual welfare Declarative welfare, Happiness, Happiness Given its very nature, reported happiness is subjective. It is difficult to compare one person’s happiness with another’s It can be especially difficult to compare happiness across cultures One concern has always been the accuracy and reliability of people’s responses to happiness surveys.
    [Show full text]
  • How Far Is Vienna from Chicago? an Essay on the Methodology of Two Schools of Dogmatic Liberalism
    A Service of Leibniz-Informationszentrum econstor Wirtschaft Leibniz Information Centre Make Your Publications Visible. zbw for Economics Paqué, Karl-Heinz Working Paper — Digitized Version How far is Vienna from Chicago? An essay on the methodology of two schools of dogmatic liberalism Kiel Working Paper, No. 209 Provided in Cooperation with: Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW) Suggested Citation: Paqué, Karl-Heinz (1984) : How far is Vienna from Chicago? An essay on the methodology of two schools of dogmatic liberalism, Kiel Working Paper, No. 209, Kiel Institute of World Economics (IfW), Kiel This Version is available at: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/46781 Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen: Terms of use: Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Documents in EconStor may be saved and copied for your Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden. personal and scholarly purposes. Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle You are not to copy documents for public or commercial Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich purposes, to exhibit the documents publicly, to make them machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen. publicly available on the internet, or to distribute or otherwise use the documents in public. Sofern die Verfasser die Dokumente unter Open-Content-Lizenzen (insbesondere CC-Lizenzen) zur Verfügung gestellt haben sollten, If the documents have been made available under an Open gelten abweichend von diesen Nutzungsbedingungen die in der dort Content Licence (especially Creative Commons Licences), you genannten Lizenz gewährten Nutzungsrechte. may exercise further usage rights as specified in the indicated licence. www.econstor.eu Kieler Arbeitspapiere Kiel Working Papers Working Paper No.
    [Show full text]
  • A New Normative Economics for the Formation of Shared Social Values
    1 1 A new normative economics for the formation of shared social values 2 Neil Ravenscroft 3 School of Environment & Technology, University of Brighton, Lewes Road, Brighton BN2 4 4GJ, UK 5 6 [email protected] 7 Introduction 8 9 It is widely accepted that transition towards a more sustainable society is in part dependent 10 upon an ability to link scientific knowledges - generated in fields such as sustainability 11 science - with socio-political actions that foster sustainable outcomes. For Miller, et al (2014: 12 p.239), this is about strengthening ‘… the role of values in science and decision-making for 13 sustainability,’ while for Rodriguez-Morales and Rawluk (this issue), it is primarily about the 14 deployment of political power in sustainability decision-making processes. In their work, 15 Westberg and Polk (2016) argue that this is about catalysing knowledge exchange between 16 sustainability science and society in such a way that new composite, socially constructed, 17 knowledges are generated that can inform the development of sustainability policy. As 18 Rawluk, et al (this issue) argue, this revolves around complex social-ecological 19 conceptualisations of values that inform the resource trade-offs that society is prepared to 20 accept in pursuit of sustainability, with the fundamental question being one of how choices 21 are made about these trade-offs (see also Anderson, et al, 2015, 2016). 22 23 Conventionally, in neoclassical economics, the social welfare questions raised by the pursuit 24 of sustainability have been addressed by reference to the aggregation of individual 25 preferences – often expressed and captured through market mechanisms (Bartkowski and 26 Lienhoop, 2018).
    [Show full text]
  • Values in Welfare Economics Antoinette Baujard
    Values in Welfare economics Antoinette Baujard To cite this version: Antoinette Baujard. Values in Welfare economics. 2021. halshs-03244909 HAL Id: halshs-03244909 https://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/halshs-03244909 Preprint submitted on 1 Jun 2021 HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est archive for the deposit and dissemination of sci- destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents entific research documents, whether they are pub- scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, lished or not. The documents may come from émanant des établissements d’enseignement et de teaching and research institutions in France or recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires abroad, or from public or private research centers. publics ou privés. WP 2112 – June 2021 Values in Welfare economics Antoinette Baujard Abstract: This chapter focuses on the inner rationale and consequences of four different archetypal positions regarding how ethical and political values are tackled in welfare economics. Welfare economics is standardly associated with the welfarist framework, for which social welfare is based on individual utility only. Beyond this, we distinguish the value-neutrality claim – for which ethical values should be and are out of the scope of welfare economics –, the value confinement ideal – for which ethical values are acceptable if they are minimal and consensual–, the transparency requirement – for which any ethical values may be acceptable in the welfare economics framework if explicit and formalized –, and the entanglement claim – which challenges the very possibility of demarcation between facts and values. Keywords: Welfare economics, facts and values, value judgement, welfarism, transparency, demarcation, normative and positive, neutrality JEL codes: B41, D60, D63 Values in Welfare economics1 By Antoinette Baujard2 Abstract.
    [Show full text]
  • The Normative Gap: Mechanism Design and Ideal Theories of Justice
    The Normative Gap: Mechanism Design and Ideal Theories of Justice Zoe¨ Hitzig∗ Abstract This paper investigates the peculiarities that arise when mechanism design is deployed in contexts in which issues of social, racial and distributive justice are particularly salient. Economists' involvement in redesigning Boston's algorithm for allocating K-12 students to public schools serves as an instructive case study. The paper draws on the distinction between ideal theory and non-ideal theory in political philosophy and the concept of perfor- mativity in economic sociology to argue that mechanism can enact elaborate ideal theories of justice. A normative gap thus emerges between the goals of the policymakers and the objec- tives of economic designs. As a result, mechanism design may obstruct stakeholders' avenues for normative criticism of public policies, and serve as a technology of depoliticization. Keywords: mechanism design, school choice, ideal theory, performativity ∗Department of Economics, Harvard University, 1805 Cambridge Street, Cambridge MA 02138. Email: [email protected]. URL: https://scholar.harvard.edu/hitzig 1 1 Introduction In a 2003 paper in the American Economic Review, economists Tayfun S¨onmezand Atila Ab- dulkadiro˘gluframed the thorny problem of assigning K-12 students to public schools in game theoretic terms (Abdulkadiro˘gluand S¨onmez2003). In addition to formulating school assign- ment as a problem from the branch of microeconomic theory known as mechanism design, they analyzed existing school choice allocation systems in Boston, Columbus, Minneapolis, and Seat- tle. The economists demonstrated through proofs and propositions that the existing systems have \serious shortcomings" and that adopting a different mechanism could \provide a practical solution to some of these critical school choice issues" (Abdulkadiro˘gluand S¨onmez2003: 742).
    [Show full text]
  • Normative Economics and Paternalism: the Problem with the Preference-Satisfaction Account of Welfare
    Normative Economics and Paternalism: The Problem with the Preference-Satisfaction Account of Welfare Cyril Hédoin Economics and management research center REGARDS – University of Reims Champagne- Ardenne, France This version: 03/03/2015 – Do not quote without permission. Abstract: The normative turn of behavioral economics has lead to a reconsideration of paternalism in normative economics. This article argues however that the preference- satisfaction account of welfare that still dominates welfare economics makes impossible to account for all the dimensions of the debate over paternalism. The laundered preferences approach and the alternative selves approach are two available frameworks to reconcile the consumer sovereignty principle that underlies the preference-satisfaction account with the fact that preferences are endogenous and context-dependent. I show however that neither of them is able to account for autonomy-related issues which are central in current debates over “soft” or “libertarian” paternalism. I suggest that a justification of paternalism compatible with liberal principles depends on the ability for reasonable persons to voluntarily consent to a collective choice rule with paternalistic tendencies. This argument relies on a distinction between preferences (which can be attached to other entities than persons) and values which is unknown to welfare economics. Keywords: Normative economics – Paternalism – Preference-Satisfaction Account – Autonomy – Values – Behavioral Economics 0. Introduction Welfare economics has been historically built on a more or less loosely defined principle of consumer sovereignty. This principle is closely articulated to the definition of welfare as preference-satisfaction that has dominated the “new” welfare economics since the pioneering work of Vilfredo Pareto, John Hicks and Nicholas Kaldor.
    [Show full text]
  • Normative and Positive Economics John B
    Marquette University e-Publications@Marquette Economics Faculty Research and Publications Economics, Department of 1-1-1998 Normative and Positive Economics John B. Davis Marquette University, [email protected] Published version. "Normative and Positive Economics," in Encyclopedia of Political Economy. Eds. Phillip Anthony O'Hara. London: Taylor & Francis (Routledge), 1998: 804-807. Publisher Link. © 1998 Taylor & Francis (Routledge). Used with permission. normative and positive economics the politicians compete are votes. Thus it is Populations of Organizations," American crucial for their success that they design the Journal of Sociology 90: 1262- 83 . content of party programs and election plat­ Chamberlin, E.R. (1933) The Theory of Mono­ forms as closely as possible to their voters' polistic Competition, 7th edn, Cambridge, preferences, and, simultaneously, as far away as MA: Harvard University Press. possible from competing parties. The observed Elton, Charles (1927) Animal Ecology, London: tendency toward "median voter" programs and Sidgwick & Jackson. increasing political competition can be ana­ Grinell, 1. (1917) "The Niche-Relationships of lyzed and explained by the niche approach. the California Thrasher," Auk 34 . Niches can be formed and created, especially Groenhaug, K. and Narapareddy, V. (1989) through advertising. Consumers and voters can "Niche Changes and Population Strategies: react and change their preferences, and a Foreign Competition Revisited," Scandina_ formerly well-adjusted fIrm will exit because vian Journal of Management 5(1): 49-61. of a vanishing niche. The exact identifIcation of Hutchinson, G.E. (1957) "Concluding Re­ the boundaries of the niche is one of the major marks," Cold Spring Harbor Symposium on problems, both in theory and reality.
    [Show full text]
  • Paternalism and the Public Household. on the Domestic Origins of Public Economics Maxime Desmarais-Tremblay
    Paternalism and the public household. On the domestic origins of public economics Maxime Desmarais-Tremblay To cite this version: Maxime Desmarais-Tremblay. Paternalism and the public household. On the domestic origins of public economics. 2017. halshs-01560189 HAL Id: halshs-01560189 https://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/halshs-01560189 Submitted on 11 Jul 2017 HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est archive for the deposit and dissemination of sci- destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents entific research documents, whether they are pub- scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, lished or not. The documents may come from émanant des établissements d’enseignement et de teaching and research institutions in France or recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires abroad, or from public or private research centers. publics ou privés. Documents de Travail du Centre d’Economie de la Sorbonne Paternalism and the public household. On the domestic origins of public economics Maxime DESMARAIS-TREMBLAY 2017.32 Maison des Sciences Économiques, 106-112 boulevard de L'Hôpital, 75647 Paris Cedex 13 http://centredeconomiesorbonne.univ-paris1.fr/ ISSN : 1955-611X Paternalism and the public household On the domestic origins of public economics Maxime Desmarais-Tremblay∗ June 16, 2017 Abstract The ancient Greek conception of oikonomia is often dismissed as irrelevant for making sense of the contemporary economic world. In this paper, I emphasise a thread that runs through the history of economic thought connecting the oikos to modern public economics. By conceptualising the public economy as a public household, Richard A. Musgrave (1910-2007) set foot in a long tradition of analogy between the practically oriented household and the state.
    [Show full text]
  • Austrian Economics As Political Philosophy J. Mikael Olsson
    S TOCKHOLM STUDIES IN POLITICS 161 Austrian Economics as Political Philosophy J. Mikael Olsson Austrian Economics as Political Philosophy J. Mikael Olsson ©J. Mikael Olsson, Stockholm University 2015 ISSN 0346-6620 ISBN 978-91-7649-062-4 Printed in Sweden by US-AB, Stockholm 2015 Distributor: Department of Political Science, Stockholm University. Cover image: Micaela Adolfsson (based on “Under the Thumb” by Thomas Nast, 1871). Contents I. Introduction ............................................................................................... 7 Aims of the Study ...................................................................................... 12 Some Words on Method ............................................................................ 17 The Metaethical Dimension ...................................................................... 22 Earlier Research ........................................................................................ 31 Sources ...................................................................................................... 33 Disposition ................................................................................................ 34 Part 1: Economics ........................................................................................ 35 II. A Brief History of Economic Thought ................................................. 37 Mercantilism and Its Critics ...................................................................... 38 Quesnay and Smith ...................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Relational Normative Economics: an African Approach to Justice
    Relational Normative Economics: An African Approach to Justice Thaddeus Metz University of Pretoria, South Africa ABSTRACT. Recent work by comparative philosophers, global ethicists, and cross-cultural value theorists indicates that, unlike most Western thinkers, those in many other parts of the globe, such as indigenous Africa, East Asia, and South America, tend to prize relationality. These relational values include enjoying a sense of togetherness, participating cooperatively, creating something new together, engaging in mutual aid, and being compassionate. Global economic practices and internationally influential theories pertaining to justice, develop- ment, and normative economics over the past 50 years have been principally informed by characteristically Western and individualist values such as utility, autonomy, and capability. In this article I consider what economic appropriation, production, distribution, and consumption would look like if they were more influenced by relational values typical of non-Western worldviews, and especially the sub-Saharan ethic of ubuntu. KEYWORDS. African morality, distributive justice, economic justice, relational economics, relational values, sub-Saharan ethics, ubuntu I. INTRODUCTION ecent work by comparative philosophers, global ethicists, and cross- Rcultural value theorists indicates that, beyond Western1 philosophy and theory, thinkers in many other parts of the globe tend to prize rela- tionality. Whereas contemporary American-European moral thought tends to value individualist goods such as utility, autonomy, and capabil- ity that make no essential reference to others, those in the indigenous African, East Asian, and South American traditions (amongst others) instead rate highly ways of interacting between people, often summed up with talk of ‘harmony’. ETHICAL PERSPECTIVES 27, no. 1 (2020): 35-68. © 2020 by Centre for Ethics, KU Leuven.
    [Show full text]
  • 1 the Bond Between Positive and Normative Economics Daniel M
    The Bond between Positive and Normative Economics Daniel M. Hausman University of Wisconsin-Madison In addition to positive economics, various activities of economists constitute something called “normative economics.” In this regard, economics differs from the natural sciences. There are positive sciences of physics, chemistry, geology, and so forth, but there is no discipline or subdiscipline called “normative chemistry” or “normative geology.” There is applied chemistry and chemical engineering, and all the natural sciences have applications that bear on our interests. The natural sciences may guide policies, mainly by providing information about their consequences, but there is little that resembles normative economics to be found among the natural sciences. Moreover, normative economics does not consist merely of applications of positive economics to address policy questions. It is instead for the most part limited to questions concerning welfare, and it is, to a surprising extent a unified theoretical and practical undertaking. These facts give rise to many questions. Section one addresses the most obvious one: why is there a discipline or a subdiscipline of normative economics? Section two attempts to describe the central features of mainstream normative economics. Section 3 explains why mainstream normative economics has its distinctive contours, and section 4 addresses some of the deepest problems mainstream normative economics faces. 1 Why is there such a thing as normative economics? 1 Crucial to the existence of normative economics is the fact that economics takes as its object interactions among people and the consequences of these interactions. Because the subject matter concerns human actions, it is possible to pass practical judgment on it.
    [Show full text]
  • Making Sense of Economists' Positive-Normative Distinction
    Journal of Economic Methodology, 2015 http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/1350178X.2015.1024877 Making sense of economists’ positive-normative distinction David Colander* and Huei-Chun Su Department of Economics, Middlebury College, University College London, Middlebury, VT 05753, USA (Received 6 February 2014; revised 17 March 2014; accepted 17 April 2014) The goal of this article is to provide a slightly different spin on economists’ use of the positive-normative distinction by providing some context for its use. The major difference is the following: philosophers and philosophically oriented economists, such as Hilary Putnam and John Davis, see the positive-normative distinction in economics as following from the logical positivist position, and they interpret comments made by economists as reflecting scientific methodological positions that have long since been repudiated by philosophers of science. This article argues that economists’ use of the positive-normative distinction developed from the Mill–Keynes methodological tradition, which did not hold logical positivist views. Instead, it had pragmatic purposes and was designed to encourage economists to be more modest in their claims for the implications of economic theory. We conclude by arguing that economist’s current use of the positive-normative distinction is problematic, as Davis suggests, but that the best way forward is not to eliminate it, but to reposition it within the Mill–Keynes tradition from which it initially developed. Doing so avoids the problems of associating it with logical positivism, while simultaneously using the distinction to remind economists about the limitations of applying economic theorizing to real world problems. Keywords: methodology; logical positivism; values; positive; normative; ethics Jel Classification: A13; B20; B41 Other than for a few specialists, economists do not know, and do not claim to know, a lot about methodology.
    [Show full text]