Scitovsky, Behavioural Economics, and Beyond

Abstract: Scitovsky is known as a forerunner of behavioural economics simply because he drew heavily on psychology and claimed that people’s choices may be ‘joyless’ (Scitovsky, The joyless economy, 1976). However, a careful reformulation of his analysis shows that he anticipated a number of insights (also with respect to Kahneman’s ‘two-systems of thought’) which suggest new lines of inquiry from an original and different perspective. These insights of Scitovsky regard the following aspects: Uncertainty as a condition where the outcomes of choosing a particular option (novelty) is partially unknown; the case of individual ‘consumption skill’ (inclusive of emotions) that finds this uncertainty desirable when it is challenging; the case of increasing such skill so as to change preferences and make choices more efficient; the case of failing to increase such skill so as to make addictive harmful products an alternative and more tempting option.

Angaben zum Objekt

• Standort: Deutsche Nationalbibliothek Frankfurt am Main
• Umfang: Online-Ressource
• Sprache: Englisch

Verweise und Beziehungen

• Erschienen in: Scitovsky, Behavioural Economics, and Beyond ; volume:8 ; number:1 ; year:2014 ; extent:31 ; Economics / Journal articles. Journal articles ; 8, Heft 1 (2014) (gesamt 31)

Beteiligte, Orts- und Zeitangaben

• Urheber: Pugno, Maurizio

Weitere Informationen

• DOI: 10.5018/economics-ejournal.ja.2014-24
• URN: urn:nbn:de:101:1-2412130931410.851808932366
• Rechteinformation: Open Access; Der Zugriff auf das Objekt ist unbeschränkt möglich.
• Letzte Aktualisierung: 15.08.2025, 07:29 MESZ