Regulatory arbitrage — defined as the manipulation of regulatory treatment for the purpose of reducing regulatory costs or increasing statutory earnings — is often seen in heavily-regulated industries. An increase in the regulatory nature of copyright, coupled with rapid technological...

The cornerstone of mainstream economic theory is the premise of rationality. Humans are assumed to be rational economic agents who, subject to the available information and limited resources, are able to select, among a set of alternatives, the best means to maximize their ends and their...

That the rationality of individual people is ‘bounded’ – that is, finite in scope and representational reach, and constrained by the opportunity cost of time – cannot reasonably be controversial as an empirical matter. In this context, the paper addresses the question as to why, if...

Jon Elster gehört zu den profiliertesten Sozialwissenschaftlern der internationalen 'scientific community'. Der vorliegende Beitrag entwickelt eine Lesart für sein bisher vorliegendes Gesamtwerk: In einem ersten Schritt wird Elsters Kritik an funktionalistischen Fehlschlüssen in den...

In this paper we critically review the literature on rational choice theory (RCT) and the critical approaches to it. We will present a concise description of the theory as defended by Gary Becker, Richard Posner and James Coleman (as well as others) at the University of Chicago from the...

Strong growth in disposable income has inflated consumption to unprecedented, but not sustainable levels. In this process consumer behavior has been changing. To explain the driving forces of this development, the paper introduces a theory of evolving consumer preferences that is molded in an...

Strong growth in disposable income has driven, and is still driving, consumption to unprecedented, but not sustainable levels. To explain the dynamic interplay of needs, need satisfaction, and innovation underlying that growth a behavioral theory of consumption is suggested and discussed with...

Na raiz do pensamento Polanyiano, encontra-se a distinção entre economia no sentido substantivo e economia no sentido formal. Com efeito, a concepção substantivista que define a economia como um processo instituído de interação entre o homem e o ambiente natural e social que o rodeia e...

Economics instructors who start their courses with abstract concepts, definitions, charts, and astronomical numbers often miss the invaluable first-impression opportunity. This paper addresses the lack of appropriate gateway-transitional-interdisciplinary concepts in introductory economics...