Homo Economicus Criticisms Responses Related Articles

Homo economicus is seen as "rational". But in what sense? Usually it is in the sense that well-being as defined by the utility function is optimized given perceived opportunities. That is, the individual seeks to attain very specific and predetermined goals to the greatest extent with the least possible cost. Note that this kind of "rationality" does not say that the individual's actual goals are "rational" in some larger ethical, social, or human sense, only that he tries to attain them at minimal cost. Only naïve applications of the homo economicus model assume that this hypothetical individual knows what is best for his long-term physical and mental health and can be relied upon to always make the right decision for himself. See rational choice theory and rational expectations for further discussion; the article on rationality widens the discussion.

As in social science in general, these assumptions are at best approximations. The term is often used derogatorily in academic literature, perhaps most commonly by sociologists, many of whom tend to prefer structural explanations to ones based on rational action by individuals.

1 Criticisms

Homo economicus bases his choices only the consideration of his own personal " utility function". To the extent that this utility function does not consider the well-being of others, homo economicus is selfish or greedy (while not suffering from envy and similar negative motivations). Worse, economic man is amoral, ignoring all social values unless adhering to them gives him pleasure. Some believe such assumptions about humans are not only empirically inaccurate but unethical.

Economists Thorstein Veblen, John Maynard Keynes, Herbert Simon, and many of the Austrian School criticise homo economicus as an actor in understanding macroeconomics and economic forecasting. They stress uncertainty and bounded rationalityMany models of human behavior in the social sciences assume that humans can be reasonably approximated or described as " rational" entities, especially as conceived by rational choice theory. Many economics models assume that people are "hyperrational", a in the making of economic decisions, rather than relying on the rational man who is fully informed of all circumstances impinging on his decisions. They argue that perfect knowledge never exists, which means that all economic activity implies risk.

Empirical studies by Amos TverskyAmos Tversky ( March 16, 1937 June 2, 1996) was a pioneer of cognitive science, a longtime collaborator of Daniel Kahneman, and a key figure in the discovery of systematic human cognitive bias and handling of risk. With Kahneman, he originated prospect th questioned the assumption that investors are rational. In 19951995 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). It has a Golden number of 1, and was the first year of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous People (1995- 2005): http://www. org/culture/indigenous . Events January events Ja, Tversky demonstrated the tendency of investors to make risk-averse choices in gains, and risk-seeking choices in losses. The investors appeared as very risk-averse for small losses but indifferent for a small chance of a very large loss. This violates economic rationality as usually understood. Further research on this subject, showing other deviations from conventionally-defined economic rationality, is being done in the growing field of experimental or behavioral economics.

Other critics of the homo economicus model of humanity, such as Bruno Frey , point to the excessive emphasis on extrinsic motivation (rewards and punishments from the social environment) as opposed to intrinsic motivationIntrinsic motivation causes people to engage in an activity for its own sake. Hobbies are typical examples. Traditionally, extrinsic motivation has been used to motivate employees: Payments, rewards, control, or punishments. Within economies transitioning. For example, it is difficult if not impossible to understand how homo economicus would be a hero in war or would get inherent pleasure from craftsmanship . Frey and others argue that too much emphasis on rewards and punishments can "crowd out" (discourage) intrinsic motivation: paying a boy for doing household tasks may push him from doing those tasks "to help the family" to doing them simply for the reward.

Yet others, especially sociologists, argue that the model ignores an extremely important question, i.e., the origins of tastes and the parameters of the utility function by social influences, training, education, and the like. The exogeneity of tastes (preferences) in the homo economicus model is the major distinction from homo sociologicus, in which tastes are taken as partially or even totally determined by the societal environment (see below).

Further critics, learning from the broadly-defined psychoanalyticPsychoanalysis is the revelation of unconscious relations, in a systematic way through an associative process. The fundamental subject matter of psychoanalysis is the unconscious patterns of life revealed through the analysand's (the patient's) free assoc tradition, criticize the homo economicus model as ignoring the inner conflicts that real-world individuals suffer, as between short-term and long-term goals (e.g., eating chocolate cake and losing weight) or between individual goals and societal values. Such conflicts may lead to "irrational" behavior involving inconsistency, psychological paralysis, neurosis, and/or psychic pain.

One criticism contends that the homo economicus model works as a self-fulfilling prophecyA self-fulfilling prophecy is a prediction that, in being made, actually causes itself to become true. For example, in the stock market, if it is widely believed that a crash is imminent, this may reduce confidence and actually cause such a crash. Or, if if a group of people (a company, a society) accepts its premises, particularly the idea that individuals only ever consider their personal utility function and that -- as is often claimed -- the invisible hand works to make these purely selfish decisions promote the interest of society. Governance structures and social norms of such a group will effectively reward selfishness and discourage or ridicule deviant behavior like altruism, fairness, or teamwork; its idols will be those who most ruthlessly maximize their own utility function. This aspect has risen to wider attention in disciplines like organization science where extrinsic motivation has been found to be not nearly as effective with knowledge workers as it had been for traditional industries, creating a renewed interest in forms of motivation that do not fit into the homo economicus model.

The clearest case of a self-fulfilling prophecy concerning homo economicus has been in the teaching of economics. Several research studies have indicated that those students who take economics courses end up being more self-centered than before they took the courses. For example, they are less willing to co-operate with the other player in a prisoner's dilemma-type game. See, for example, the article by Thomas Frank et al. (1993), cited below.

2 Responses

Economists tend to disagree with these critiques, arguing that it may be relevant to analyze the consequences of enlightened egoism just as it may be worthwile to consider altruistic or social behavior. Others argue that we need to understand the consequences of such narrow-minded greed even if only a small percentage of the population embraces such motives. If there are free riders, for example, that has a major negative impact on the provision of public goods. On the other hand, it may be that only a significant minority of market participants act like homo economicus for the economists' predictions concerning supply and demand to be accurate. In this view, the assumption of homo economicus can and should be simply a preliminary step on the road to a more sophisticated model.

Yet others argue that homo economicus is a reasonable approximation for behavior within market institutions, since the individualized nature of human action in such social settings encourages individualistic behavior. Not only do market settings encourage the application of a simple cost/benefit calculus by individuals, but they reward and thus attract the more individualistic people. It is very difficult to apply social values (as opposed to following self-interest) in an extremely competitive market: a company that refuses to pollute (for example) may find itself bankrupt.

Defenders of the homo economicus model see many critics of the dominant school as using a straw-man technique. For example, it is common for critics to argue that "Real people do not have cost-less access to infinite information and an inbuilt ability to process it, in no time at all." However, in advanced-level theoretical economics, scholars have found ways of acknowledging these facts, modifying the model enough to be a more realistic picture of some decision-making. For example, models of individual behavior under bounded rationality and of people suffering from envy can be found in the literature. It is primarily when targeting the limiting assumptions made in constructing undergraduate models that the criticisms listed above are valid. These criticisms are especially valid to the extent that the professor asserts that the simplifying assumptions are true and/or uses them in a propagandistic way.

The more sophisticated economists are quite conscious of the empirical limitations of the homo economicus model. In theory, the views of the critics can be combined with the homo economicus model to attain a more accurate model. The fact that many economists advocate the most individualistic and simplistic version of homo economicus at the expense of empirical validity may reflect their own (conscious or unconscious) political commitments more than efforts to be scientific.

One problem with making the homo economicus model more sophisticated is that sometimes the model becomes tautologically true, i.e., true by definition. If someone has a "taste" for variety, for example, it becomes difficult if not impossible to distinguish economic rationality from irrationality. In this case, the homo economicus model may not add any new information at all to our economic understanding.

Comparisons between economics and sociology have resulted in a corresponding term homo sociologicus, to parody the image of human nature given in some sociological models which attempt to limn the social forces that determine individual tastes and social values. (The alternative or additional source of these would be biology.) Hirsch, Michaels, and Friedman (1990, p. 44) say that homo sociologicus is largely a tabula rasa upon which societies and cultures write values and goals; unlike economicus, sociologicus acts not to pursue selfish interests but to fulfill social roles. This "individual" may appear to be all society and no individual. This suggests the need to combine the insights of homo economicus models with those of homo sociologicus models in order to create a synthesis, rather than rejecting one or the other.

3 Related Articles

4 External links and references

Hirsch, Paul, Stuart Michaels and Ray Friedman. 1990. "Clean Models vs. Dirty Hands: Why Economics Is Different from Sociology." In Sharon Zukin and Paul DiMaggio, eds. Structures of capital: The social organization of the economy: 39-56. Cambridge; New York and Melbourne: Cambridge University Press, 1990 (BooksEnthsiast.com).

Frank, Robert H., Thomas Gilovich, and Dennis T. Regan. 1993. "Does Studying Economics Inhibit Cooperation?" Journal of Economic Perspectives, 7: 2 (Spring): pp. 159-72.

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