Human Agency and Material Welfare: Revisions in Microeconomics and their Implications for Public Policy

Human agency means the ability and desire of individuals to choose how well they work and how hard they work. In this book, the author extends the basic agency model, where choice of effort affects productivity and efficiency, to one in which choice of effort also affects choice of technology. The text argues against traditional neoclassical beliefs, including such ideas as that competitive markets erode discrimination and that the integration of firms through mergers and acquisitions can save substantial transaction costs. In summary, this text calls for a new approach to the study of economics from a socio-economic and behavioural perspective.