Social dynamics
By: edited by Steven N. Durlauf and H. Peyton Young
Series: Economic learning and social evolution -- v. 4; MIT Press series on economic learning and social evolution
Publisher: Brookings Institution Press; MIT Press
Published: 2001
Place of publication: Washington, D.C; Cambridge, Mass
Language: eng
Number of pages: 238
ISBN-13: 9780585386669
Subjects: Social interaction; Economic aspects; Economics; Sociological aspects; Interaction sociale; Aspect économique; SOCIAL SCIENCE; Anthropology; Cultural; POLITICAL SCIENCE; Public Policy; Cultural Policy; Popular Culture
Description: Economists have traditionally studied aggregate behavior as the outcome of individual decisions made interactively, while sociologists have focused on the role of social influences on individual behavior. Over the past decade, however, the barriers between the disciplines have broken down, resulting in the new area of social economics. Social economics is based on the assumption that individuals are directly influenced by the choices and characteristics of others, creating a feedback loop from the past choices of some people to the current social context and hence future choices of others. The essays in this book, by some of the creators of the field, provide an overview of social economics and represent a variety of approaches, including theoretical model-building, empirical studies, statistical analyses, and philosophical reflections.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: The new social economics  -- Steven N. Durlauf and H. Peyton Young; title: The interactions-based approach to socioeconomic behavior  -- Lawrence E. Blume and Steven N. Durlauf; title: Policy interventions, low-level equilibria, and social interactions  -- Robert A. Moffitt; title: Measuring social interactions  -- Edward L. Glaeser and José A. Scheinkman; title: The dynamics of conformity  -- H. Peyton Young; title: Individual interactions, group conflicts, and the evolution of preferences  -- Samuel Bowles; title: The emergence of classes in a multi-agent bargaining model  -- Robert L. Axtell, Joshua M. Epstein, and H. Peyton Young; title: The breakdown of social contracts -- Ken Binmore.