Adam Smith, Behavioral Economist

2005/08/01 by Nava Ashraf, Colin F. Camerer, George Loewenstein · 3 citations
Decision Sciences · Social Sciences · Psychology · #Decision-Making and Behavioral Economics #Experimental Behavioral Economics Studies #Psychological Well-being and Life Satisfaction #Behavioral economics #Adam smith #Perspective (graphical) #Psychology #Positive economics #Focus (optics) #Dual (grammatical number) #Loss aversion #Economics #Sociology #Epistemology #Neoclassical economics #Philosophy #Microeconomics #Computer science

paper · doi:10.1257/089533005774357897

openalex publication_date 2005/08/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/06/11

Abstract

Adam Smith's psychological perspective in The Theory of Moral Sentiments is remarkably similar to “dual-process” frameworks advanced by psychologists, neuroscientists, and more recently by behavioral economists, based on behavioral data and detailed observations of brain functioning. It also anticipates a wide range of insights regarding phenomena such as loss aversion, willpower, and fairness that have been the focus of modern behavioral economics. This essay draws attention to some of these connections.

Citations

• Maps of Bounded Rationality: Psychology for Behavioral Economics
• Trust, Reciprocity, and Social History
• The Hubris Hypothesis of Corporate Takeovers
• Overconfidence and Excess Entry: An Experimental Approach
• Doing It Now or Later
• A hot/cool-system analysis of delay of gratification: Dynamics of willpower.
• Golden Eggs and Hyperbolic Discounting
• Prospect Theory: An Analysis of Decision under Risk
• Fairness and Retaliation: The Economics of Reciprocity
• The Two Faces of Adam Smith
• The Quarterly Journal of Economics

Cited by

• Neuroeconomics
• The Rise of Behavioral Economics: A Quantitative Assessment
• Behavioral economics [wikipedia]