An Economic Theory of Greed, Love, Groups, and NetworksWhy are people loyal? How do groups form and how do they create incentives for their members to abide by group norms? Until now, economics has only been able to partially answer these questions. In this groundbreaking work, Paul Frijters presents a new unified theory of human behaviour. To do so, he incorporates comprehensive yet tractable definitions of love and power, and the dynamics of groups and networks, into the traditional mainstream economic view. The result is an enhanced view of human societies that nevertheless retains the pursuit of self-interest at its core. This book provides a digestible but comprehensive theory of our socioeconomic system, which condenses its immense complexity into simplified representations. The result both illuminates humanity's history and suggests ways forward for policies today, in areas as diverse as poverty reduction and tax compliance. |
Contents
Introduction and preview | 1 |
Economicus view | 51 |
to the mainstream view | 68 |
The missing building block | 74 |
perspective | 113 |
Figures | 130 |
Groups and power | 145 |
Networks and markets | 226 |
of GDP trajectories in transition regions 19892002 | 250 |
The aggregate view | 301 |
Formal models and extensions | 349 |
and economic growth | 389 |
397 | |
423 | |
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Common terms and phrases
ability abstract activities aggregate amongst archetypal argue banana basic behavior believe benefits bureaucracy categorization theory central authority chapter circle of reciprocity compliance concepts contact makers cost defined definition democracy difficulty dominant economists efficient emotional enforcement entity equilibrium evolutionary example existing expect final find finding firms first fit formal Frijters greed group members group power hence heuristic hierarchy Homo Economicus human capital hunter-gatherer ideals identity important incentives individual influence institutions interactions internal investment involved large circle literature Love Principle loyalty mainstream economics means modern nation nomic observe ofthe one’s organizations particular person players political potential predictions problem production factors profit punishment reciprocal groups reflects relations rent-seeking resource curse role rules sacrifice sense simply social capital social norms society specific story subgroup sufficient symbolic expenses theory threat tion unconscious mind vidual violence whole group