Neuroeconomics
Handbook of Experimental Economics Editors: John Kagel and Alvin Roth Neuroeconomics Colin Camerer (California Institute of Technology), Jonathan Cohen (Princeton University), Ernst Fehr (University of Zurich), Paul Glimcher (New York University), David Laibson (Harvard University) Camerer, Division HSS, Caltech, camerer@hss.caltech.edu; Cohen, Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, jdc@princeton.edu; Fehr, University of Zurich, Department of Economics, ernst.fehr@econ.uzh.ch; Glimcher, Center for Neural Science, New York University, glimcher@cns.nyu.edu; Laibson, Department of Economics, Harvard University, dlaibson@harvard.edu. We acknowledge financial support from the Moore Foundation (Camerer), the National Science Foundation (Camerer), and the National Institute of Aging (Cohen, Laibson). Introduction ―One may wonder whether Adam Smith, were he working today, would not be a neuroeconomi[st]‖ Aldo Rustichini (2005). Neuroeconomics is the study of the biological microfoundations of economic cognition and behavior. Biological microfoundations are neurochemical mechanisms and pathways, like brain regions, neurons, genes, and neurotransmitters.1 Economic cognition includes memory, preferences, emotions, mental representations, expectations, anticipation, learning, information processing, inference, simulation, valuation, and the subjective experience of reward. In general, neuroeconomic research seeks to identify and test biologically microfounded models that link cognitive building blocks to economic behavior. If successful, neuroeconomic research will improve economists‘ ability to forecast behavior (e.g., Bernheim et al 2011, Fehr and Rangel 2011). Neuroeconomics is a big tent. Neuroeconomic research requires some curiosity about neurobiology, but neuroeconomic research does not necessarily require a departure from classical economic assumptions (e.g., rationality and dynamic consistency). A classical economist would be a neuroeconomist if she wanted to study the biological mechanisms that influence rational decision-making.
[Show full text]