Social Identity Strategies in Recent Economics

Tinbergen Institute Discussion Paper No. 05-078/2

32 Pages Posted: 24 Aug 2005

See all articles by John B. Davis

John B. Davis

University of Amsterdam; Marquette University

Date Written: August 2005

Abstract

This paper reviews three distinct strategies in recent economics for using the concept of social identity in the explanation of individual behavior: Akerlof and Kranton's neoclassical approach, Sen's commitment approach, and Kirman et al.'s complexity approach. The primary focus is the multiple selves problem and the difficulties associated with failing to explain social identity and personal identity together. The argument of the paper is that too narrow a scope for reflexivity in individual decision-making renders the problem intractable, but that enlarging this scope makes it possible to explain personal and social identity together in connection with an individual behavior termed comparative value-objective evaluation. The paper concludes with recommendations for treating the individual objective function as a production function.

Keywords: Identity, personal identity, reflexivity, individual objective function

JEL Classification: D01, D63, Z13

Suggested Citation

Davis, John B. and Davis, John B., Social Identity Strategies in Recent Economics (August 2005). Tinbergen Institute Discussion Paper No. 05-078/2, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=784346 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.784346

John B. Davis (Contact Author)

Marquette University ( email )

P.O. Box 1881
Milwaukee, WI 53201-1881
United States

University of Amsterdam ( email )

Amsterdam
Netherlands

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