Towards a living theoretical spine for (behavioural) economics

Abstract

The past decade has witnessed an explosion in lay applications of empirical insights credited to the field of behavioural economics. Organizations in the public and private sectors have increasingly spawned sub-units with names clearly signalling behavioural economics, e.g., “behavioural insights team”, ostensibly to harness the new knowledge of behavioural economics and apply it to problems of particular import to the organization or its stakeholders. In stark contrast to this impressive take-up of what behavioural economics is seen to offer by those outside the academy, the basic theory of human decision-making promulgated by academic economists for decades has not fundamentally shifted as a result of the efforts of behavioural economics researchers. This paper presents an argument for devoting effort toward the development of true theoretical advance in the core economic model of decision-making, motivated but not confined to the extensions suggested by the empirical results delivered to date by behavioural economists studying choice.