2024/09/11 by A. David Redish, Redish, A. David, Henri Scott Chastain +10 · 1 voice
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · Economics, Econometrics and Finance · #Economic Policies and Impacts #Economic theories and models #FOS: Biological sciences #FOS: Economics and business #General Economics (econ.GN) #Neurons and Cognition (q-bio.NC) #econ.GN #q-bio.NC
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2409.07373
openalex publication_date 2024/09/11 · arxiv published 2024/09/11 · arxiv updated 2024/12/10 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Current theories of decision making suggest that the neural circuits in mammalian brains (including humans) computationally combine representations of the past (memory), present (perception), and future (agentic goals) to take actions that achieve the needs of the agent. How information is represented within those neural circuits changes what computations are available to that system which changes how agents interact with their world to take those actions. We argue that the computational neuroscience of decision making provides a new microeconomic framework (neuroeconomics) that offers new opportunities to construct policies that interact with those decision-making systems to improve outcomes. After laying out the computational processes underlying decision making in mammalian brains, we present four applications of this logic with policy consequences: (1) precommitment to avoid falling into the trap of sunk costs, (2) media consequences for changes in housing prices after a disaster, (3) contingency management as a treatment for addiction, and (4) how social interactions underlie the success (and failure) of microfinance institutions.