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Rationality, Learning and Complexity

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Psychology, Rationality and Economic Behaviour

Part of the book series: International Economic Association Series ((IEA))

Abstract

Although standard economic theory is based on methodological individualism, this does not imply that individuals play a crucial role in economic models. On the contrary, in such a theory individuals are deprived of authentic subjective features and play no significant role as genuine subjects. The so-called homo economicus is characterized by given preferences that are conceived as exogenous and invariant over time. Therefore, the genuine psychological features of an economic agent do not matter.

* A preliminary version of the ideas discussed in this chapter was presented at the conference ‘Keynes, Knowledge and Uncertainty’ (University of Leeds, March 1996) and published in its proceedings (Vercelli, 2002). Successive versions have been presented on many occasions, including the annual conference of Anpac (San Salvador de Bahia, December 2001), the annual conference of EAEPE (Siena, November 2001), the first meeting of the Italian Society of Cognitive Sciences (Rovereto, September 2002), the World Congress of IEA (Lisbon, September 2002), and the conference on ‘Complex Behaviour in Economics’ (Aix-en-Provence, May 2003). I thank the audience at each of my presentations for their constructive comments. In addition, I wish to thank Bina Agarwal, Samuel Bowles and Stefano Fiori for their helpful suggestions.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Siena, Italy

    Alessandro Vercelli

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  1. Alessandro Vercelli
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Economic Growth, University of Delhi, India

    Bina Agarwal

  2. University of Siena, Italy

    Alessandro Vercelli

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© 2005 International Economic Association

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Vercelli, A. (2005). Rationality, Learning and Complexity. In: Agarwal, B., Vercelli, A. (eds) Psychology, Rationality and Economic Behaviour. International Economic Association Series. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230522343_3

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