Economics and identity

• 成果类型: Review
• 署名作者: Akerlof, GA; Kranton, RE
• 署名单位: University of California System; University of California Berkeley; University System of Maryland; University of Maryland College Park; Brookings Institution
• 刊物名称: QUARTERLY JOURNAL OF ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0033-5533
• DOI: 10.1162/003355300554881
• 发表日期: 2000
• 页码: 715-753
• 关键词: social norms; DISCRIMINATION; marriage; GENDER; LAW

摘要

This paper considers how identity, a person's sense of self, affects economic outcomes. We incorporate the psychology and sociology of identity into an economic model of behavior. In the utility function we propose, identity is associated with different social categories and how people in these categories should behave. We then construct a simple game-theoretic model showing how identity can affect individual interactions. The paper adapts these models to gender discrimination in the workplace, the economics of poverty and social exclusion, and the household division of labor. In each case, the inclusion of identity substantively changes conclusions of previous economic analysis.