Behavioral Economics : The Basics

The second edition of Behavioral Economics: The Basics summaries behavioural economics, which uses insights from the social sciences, especially psychology, to explain real-world economic behavior. Behavioural economic insights are routinely used not only to understand the choices people make but also to influence them, whether the aim is to enable citizens to lead healthier and wealthier lives, or to turn browsers into buyers.

Revised and updated throughout with fresh current-event examples, Behavioral Economics: The Basics provides a rigorous yet accessible overview of the field that attempts to uncover the psychological processes which mediate all the economic judgements and decisions we make. The book showcases how behavioral economics is rooted in some now-old (philosophical, political, and moral) ideas surrounding economics, and in an important sense is a modern expression of some long-standing criticisms of mainstream economics. It contrasts the neoclassical economic perspective (ECON) with a more realistic perspective (HUMAN the flesh-and-blood economic agent who is not perfect in all respects but who manages to do the best under limitations and constraints).