To read this content please select one of the options below:

Austrian Critiques of Behavioral Economics: Common Misconceptions and Low-Hanging Fruit

Jason A. Aimone (Baylor University, TX, USA)

Contemporary Methods and Austrian Economics

ISBN: 978-1-80262-288-1, eISBN: 978-1-80262-287-4

Publication date: 27 January 2022

Abstract

What is behavioral economics? This chapter explores a mismatch between what is included in the field of behavioral economics and some of the most visible Austrian critiques of behavioral economics. While paternalism, nudging, and a focus on irrationalities and biases are a big part of modern behavioral economics, the portrayal of the field of behavioral economics as being focused predominately upon those areas leaves a swath of low-hanging fruit that would be beneficial for Austrian scholars to consume and use in their own work.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

Acknowledgments

I thank Ginny Choi, Lucas Rentschler, Erik Kimbrough, and Dan Hausman for their helpful comments on this chapter. I also thank a grant from the John Templeton Foundation for supporting the creation of this paper.

Citation

Aimone, J.A. (2022), "Austrian Critiques of Behavioral Economics: Common Misconceptions and Low-Hanging Fruit", D'Amico, D.J. and Martin, A.G. (Ed.) Contemporary Methods and Austrian Economics (Advances in Austrian Economics, Vol. 26), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 17-33. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1529-213420220000026002

Publisher

:

Emerald Publishing Limited