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Reconciling normative and behavioural economics: the problem that cannot be solved

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  • Guilhem Lecouteux

    (UniCA - Université Côte d'Azur, GREDEG - Groupe de Recherche en Droit, Economie et Gestion - UNS - Université Nice Sophia Antipolis (1965 - 2019) - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - UniCA - Université Côte d'Azur)

Abstract

Behavioural economics has challenged the normative consensus that agents ought to choose following their own preferences. I argue that normative economists implicitly defended a criterion of the sovereignty of the autonomous consumer, and that current debates in normative behavioural economics arise from disagreements about the nature of the threats to autonomy that are highlighted by behavioural economics. I argue that those disagreements result from diverging ontological conceptions of the 'self' in the literature. I distinguish between the unitary, psychodynamic, and socio-historical conceptions of the self, and show how different positive theories about preferences and the nature of the agent may determine normative positions in normative behavioural economics.

Suggested Citation

  • Guilhem Lecouteux, 2021. "Reconciling normative and behavioural economics: the problem that cannot be solved," Post-Print halshs-03418228, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:journl:halshs-03418228
    Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://shs.hal.science/halshs-03418228
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Guilhem Lecouteux & Ivan Mitrouchev, 2021. "The "View from Manywhere": Normative Economics with Context-Dependent Preferences," GREDEG Working Papers 2021-19, Groupe de REcherche en Droit, Economie, Gestion (GREDEG CNRS), Université Côte d'Azur, France.
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    5. Guala, Francesco, 2019. "Preferences: neither behavioural nor mental," Economics and Philosophy, Cambridge University Press, vol. 35(3), pages 383-401, November.
    6. Badger, Gary J. & Bickel, Warren K. & Giordano, Louis A. & Jacobs, Eric A. & Loewenstein, George & Marsch, Lisa, 2007. "Altered states: The impact of immediate craving on the valuation of current and future opioids," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 26(5), pages 865-876, September.
    7. Mozaffar Qizilbash, 2012. "Informed desire and the ambitions of libertarian paternalism," Social Choice and Welfare, Springer;The Society for Social Choice and Welfare, vol. 38(4), pages 647-658, April.
    8. Richard H. Thaler & Cass R. Sunstein, 2023. "Libertarian paternalism," Chapters, in: Cass R. Sunstein & Lucia A. Reisch (ed.), Research Handbook on Nudges and Society, chapter 1, pages 10-16, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    9. Hausman,Daniel M., 2012. "Preference, Value, Choice, and Welfare," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9781107695122, January.
    10. B. Douglas Bernheim & Antonio Rangel, 2009. "Beyond Revealed Preference: Choice-Theoretic Foundations for Behavioral Welfare Economics," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 124(1), pages 51-104.
    11. Ben McQuillin & Robert Sugden, 2012. "Reconciling normative and behavioural economics: the problems to be solved," Social Choice and Welfare, Springer;The Society for Social Choice and Welfare, vol. 38(4), pages 553-567, April.
    12. Guilhem Lecouteux, 2020. "Welfare Economics in Large Worlds: Welfare and Public Policies in an Uncertain Environment," GREDEG Working Papers 2020-08, Groupe de REcherche en Droit, Economie, Gestion (GREDEG CNRS), Université Côte d'Azur, France.
    13. Gerardo Infante & Guilhem Lecouteux & Robert Sugden, 2016. "Preference purification and the inner rational agent: a critique of the conventional wisdom of behavioural welfare economics," Journal of Economic Methodology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(1), pages 1-25, March.
    14. Hausman,Daniel M., 2012. "Preference, Value, Choice, and Welfare," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9781107015432, January.
    15. Thoma, Johanna, 2021. "In defence of revealed preference theory," Economics and Philosophy, Cambridge University Press, vol. 37(2), pages 163-187, July.
    16. Guilhem Lecouteux, 2021. "Behavioral Welfare Economics and Consumer Sovereignty," Post-Print halshs-03418219, HAL.
    17. Alexandre Chirat, 2020. "A reappraisal of Galbraith’s challenge to Consumer Sovereignty: preferences, welfare and the non-neutrality thesis," Post-Print halshs-02467176, HAL.
    18. Lauren Larrouy & Guilhem Lecouteux, 2018. "Choosing in a Large World: The Role of Focal Points as a Mindshaping Device," Working Papers halshs-01923244, HAL.
    19. Alexandre Chirat, 2020. "A reappraisal of Galbraith’s challenge to Consumer Sovereignty: Preferences, welfare and the non-neutrality thesis," Post-Print hal-03339806, HAL.
    20. Alexandre Chirat, 2020. "A reappraisal of Galbraith’s challenge to Consumer Sovereignty: preferences, welfare and the non-neutrality thesis," The European Journal of the History of Economic Thought, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 27(2), pages 248-275, March.
    21. Robert Sugden, 2017. "Do people really want to be nudged towards healthy lifestyles?," International Review of Economics, Springer;Happiness Economics and Interpersonal Relations (HEIRS), vol. 64(2), pages 113-123, June.
    22. Glenn W. Harrison, 2019. "The behavioral welfare economics of insurance," The Geneva Risk and Insurance Review, Palgrave Macmillan;International Association for the Study of Insurance Economics (The Geneva Association), vol. 44(2), pages 137-175, September.
    23. Bernheim, B. Douglas, 2016. "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: A Unified Approach to Behavioral Welfare Economics1," Journal of Benefit-Cost Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 7(1), pages 12-68, April.
    24. Glenn W. Harrison & Don Ross, 2018. "Varieties of paternalism and the heterogeneity of utility structures," Journal of Economic Methodology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 25(1), pages 42-67, January.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    preference satisfaction; autonomy; welfare; reconciliation problem; socio-historical self;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • B40 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - Economic Methodology - - - General
    • D02 - Microeconomics - - General - - - Institutions: Design, Formation, Operations, and Impact
    • D60 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - General
    • D91 - Microeconomics - - Micro-Based Behavioral Economics - - - Role and Effects of Psychological, Emotional, Social, and Cognitive Factors on Decision Making

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