Economics and Psychology: from Imperialistic to inspired Economics

Bruno S. Frey and Alois Stutzer

Table of Contents

Abstract

Economic reasoning has been successfully applied to traditional areas of (social) psychology. While progress can certainly be made by further applying the economic approach to these areas outside the economy, diminishing returns have set in.

It is now time to change from imperialistic to inspired economics. Psychology contains many ideas which can enrich future economics without giving up its sound foundations. The areas of behavioural anomalies, human motivation and subjective well-being are pertinent examples.

Key words

economics and psychology, interdisciplinarity, social science paradigm

Classification JEL: A10, A12